


Pull You Back

by AngelsAnarchy



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Druids, F/M, Hybrid - Freeform, Implied/Referenced Suicide, Maggie Stevens is FC by Lucy Hale, Magic, Self-Harm, Stiles/OC - Freeform, Suicide Attempt, Triggers, Triggers for CH10-11, Werewitch, Werewolves, third installment
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-08-19
Updated: 2017-01-02
Packaged: 2018-04-15 14:35:36
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 13
Words: 166,824
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4610421
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AngelsAnarchy/pseuds/AngelsAnarchy
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sequel to What Lies Beneath- After 4 months of being apart, Scott and Stiles have no idea what Maggie has been through that's changed her so drastically. The only thing they know is there's a bigger, badder threat than before and Maggie is neck deep in it. They have to ban together to not only take down the threats taking over Beacon Hills but find a way to save Maggie from herself</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Gone So Long

**Author's Note:**

> Authors Note: SEASON 3 IS FINALLY HERE! Thank you all for reading Strangers and What Lies Beneath. IF you've made it this far, thank you for sticking with the story. I hope you're ready for all that's about to happen. Thing's get a bit intense but you probably already know how I roll considering you've made it through the first two installments. Again, thank you for continuing this journey with Maggie. I look forward to hearing what you all think.

**[Isaac's POV]**

I felt my body being slowly dragged across the wet pavement, my own limbs too heavy to even move on my own. I could smell the blood in the air and knew it was my own. The pain from the alpha's claws in my side burned more than anything I'd ever felt before but the blow to the head I took kept me from gaining complete consciousness. I was aware I was being moved but I just couldn't bring myself to really snap out of it until I was hit with a sudden volt of electricity making my eyes spring open wide.

"Be quiet!" A voice scaled me with a harsh whisper. It wasn't Maggie though. It was another girl with a dark complexion and dark hair to match.

"Maggie…where's Maggie?" I asked trying to keep my vision from blurring.

"I'll take you to her but you've got to stay with me." The voice hoisted me to my feet and started to drag my body as best as she could. I reached back feeling the sharp pain on the back of my neck and felt bloody puncture marks.

"My neck-" I started to panic.

"It's from their claws. It's how they share memories." The girl explained keeping her eyes open for any sign of incoming threats.

"But I don't remember anything." I could hear how raw my throat was like I'd been screaming for hours but the strain to remember just how I'd gotten so messed up was making my head hurt even worse.

"It's also how they steal them. Listen to me, no matter what happens you've got to hold on, okay? You hold on tight." The girl wrapped my arms around her waist. I leaned my chin on her leather clad shoulder as she pulled on a helmet and started her motorcycle up. I did as I was told and held onto the girl's waist as tight as I could, pushing aside the pain my body was in. I focused my eyes on the slick pavement of the road under the bike as we sped through the streets of the warehouse district but the sound of something approaching quickly stuck in my ears, even over the sound of the bike's revving.

"I hear something…someone's coming." I glanced over my shoulder and focused on the thing thrumming towards us. The person came into view so quickly I could actually feel how wide my eyes got just before he took a swipe at the bike with his claws.

"FASTER!" I screamed terrified causing the girl to pull back on the accelerated just in time to avoid the strike. That didn't stop the alpha as it ran full speed towards us but when I dared another look back, there was now two of them running after the bike. I vaguely remembered the twins from the attack a month ago with Maggie but I was too scared of falling off the bike to concentrate on that.

When they finally caught up, they managed to swipe the bike so hard it veered. I tightened my grip on the girl and she took a sharp turn to avoid an oncoming truck almost sending us into a wall. The bike came to a stop giving me time to readjust my grip on her.

"You remember what I said before?" She asked firmly staring down at the two alphas that were now walking towards us.

"Hold on?" I questioned worrying that we might not make it out of this but trying desperately to push those thoughts out of my head. Maggie would lose it if I didn't make it back. I couldn't do that to her. She needed me.

"HOLD ON!" She thrusted the shield back down on the helmet before hitting the throttle of the bike. We were now barreling towards the threat at a high speed causing me to hold my breath but before we struck them she hit the brake quickly taking a turn narrowly avoiding the pounce from the alpha. I let out the breath I'd been holding but suddenly felt my heart jump into my throat.

"WHOA!" I yelped looking up just in time to see us flying through a wall of glass. The sudden scare gave me a head rush so bad I started to black out, grip slipping and the girl yelling echoing in my ears. I felt the bike being laid on it's side before rolling towards some empty oil drums. I sat up shaking my head, trying to keep my eyes steady on the twins approaching us once more with even more aggression.

I watched them stripping their shirts off in confusion until one of them crouched to the ground. The other stuck his fist into his twins back but instead of punching a hole through his body it was like he had absorbed the arm itself morphing into a bigger, fiercer super wolf. I stared at the giant alpha in shock. I didn't even think that was possible but the vibrations from it's feet stomping towards me lit the fire under me. I started to crawl away, unable to get my legs to work properly but it didn't seem fast enough.

"ISAAC! GET DOWN!" I looked back at the girl, seeing her face for the first time clearly as she wielded a huge gun right in my face. I ducked down just before she fired, blasting electric volts into the huge alpha making it separate back into the twins it was made of. The brightness of the flashes caused me to cover my eyes but when I opened them back up, they were both gone.

"I thought I told you to hang on?" She scolded me one last time before I fell back against the pavement, dizzy and exhausted from running for my life. I prayed that the next person to stumble across us was Maggie and not the alphas. I didn't have anymore energy in my body to fight. I let the darkness take over hoping that when I came to, I'd be okay.

I sat up when I felt the bang of doors at my feet and bright lights in my eyes. I was being rushed into Beacon Hills hospital on a stretcher, shirt gone from the paramedics working on me and my arms strapped to the gurney.

"Hey wait a minute, I know this one!" Melissa McCall ran towards me as I glanced back at the gurney behind mine. The smells of the hospital were too overwhelming to know if she was alright or not but I knew she was in worse shape than I was since she was human.

"What happened Isaac?" Melissa tried to keep her voice down. For a second I forgot she actually knew about werewolves.

"You need to call Maggie. Call Maggie so she can help that girl, she's worse off than me." I felt around for my phone knowing that there were few people with the capability to reach Maggie but my phone was missing. It must have fallen out when the bike went down.

"Why aren't you healing?" Melissa questioned lifting the blanket away from the deep gashes in my side causing me to flinch.

"I will! Please just help her!" I shouted as they wheeled me around the corner away from the girl and Ms. McCall. I laid back against the pillow and felt a nurse inject me with something that made me instantly tired.

"F-find...find Maggie." I breathed out before the medication forced my eyes closed and a blanket of darkness took over.

**[Scott's POV]**

I sat in the chair bouncing with excitement trying to block out all the smells in the tattoo parlor. I had survived summer school and my SAT prep that I decided I wanted to take so I'd be ready for junior year and the initiative swayed my mom into finally signing off on me getting a tattoo. I'd been itching for one the closer school got and I'd finally made it here against Stiles suggestion.

"Dude, how about something like this?" Stiles held up the book of tattoos and I rolled my eyes at his suggestion. The tattoo looked like the kanima and despite all the time that had passed, it was still something I'd prefer never to see or talk about ever again.

"Too soon?" Stiles joked putting the book back down. The tattoo artist, Lou looked at my drawing and started setting up his equipment as my adrenaline pumped through my veins. I honestly felt like I was being rewarded for surviving the summer. I felt accomplished and proud of myself. After all that had happened, rolling into the summer and dealing with the Maggie drama and still being able to get ahead of my school work, I deserved this.

"I don't know about this man. These are pretty permanent. Are you sure this is what you want? I mean why the two bands?" Stiles questioned trying to keep his eyes off of the fresh needles Lou was opening.

"I'm not changing my mind. This is what I want and the two bands is just something I like." It was hard to explain just what the symbol meant to me without upsetting Stiles. To me, it was like coming full circle. Not everything that happens in life that sets you back can destroy you. Sometimes you just have to start over.

"Your first tattoo should kind of mean something Scott." Stiles chuckled at my vagueness.

"Getting a tattoo means something." I tried to defend but Stiles just laughed.

"He's right. Tattooing goes back thousands of years. The Tahitian word tattooa means to leave a mark like a rite of passage." Lou explained as he readied his gun near my arm.

"See! He gets it." I pointed to him and Stiles eyebrows shot up.

"He's literally covered in tattoos, Scott. That's not really objective-" Lou cut Stiles off.

"Are you ready?" He asked ready to get started. I gave him a nod and let out a deep breath.

"You aren't afraid of needles are you?" He questioned before turning the machine on.

"No no I'm good." I made sure not to look at the buzzing of the needles as he brought it to my skin and got started. The sensation wasn't too painful but I definitely felt it.

"I tend to get a little squeamish so..." Stiles looked over at the needles dragging across my skin just as I clenched my eyes shut from the pain but I opened them quickly when I heard the thud of his body hitting the floor of the shop.

"Sorry about him. He doesn't like needles...or blood...or pain really." I apologized to Lou who just shook his head.

"Happens all the time. We'll get him an icepack when we finish up. Best to let his mouth rest for a bit." I chuckled at Lou despite the pain he was inflicting on my skin. It took almost 3 hours for him to finish up and by that time Stiles was up and rubbing the knot out of his head. Something about my arm didn't feel right. I wasn't exactly sure how it was supposed to feel but it didn't feel right.

"Great, now that you've successfully managed to cause me pain indirectly by getting a tattoo...hey are you okay?" Stiles asked seeing me wince looking at the bandage that covered my tattoo.

"It kind of burns." I admitted.

"Yes...you just had your skin stabbed about a hundred thousand times with a needle." He shook his head readjusting the icepack.

"Yeah but I don't think it's supposed to feel like this." Stiles started up the jeep when the sudden sensation of pain increased like my skin was being eaten by fire ants.

"OH! AHH! No it's definitely not supposed to feel like this!" I gritted out making Stiles jump.

"I gotta take this thing off." I started to yank at the bandage, not bothering to listen to Stiles protest about possibly throwing up if he had to see my bloodied arm but the moment the bandaged came off, you could see the ink slowly disappearing. Once the skin was completely clear of any tattoo, the burn went away.

"It...it healed." I whined disappointed.

"God I hated it." Stiles breathed making me look over at him offended. He caught my gaze and frowned.

"Sorry." Stiles pulled away from the parlor and I was defeated. All that work for nothing. It didn't make sense.

"I don't understand. Derek has a tattoo. How come it didn't stick?" I asked confused.

"Derek's tattoo was probably burned in with all his manpain and angry eyebrow brooding. It's just a tattoo, man." Stiles brushed it off and I knew why. Mentioning Derek always made me think of Maggie but we'd agreed a couple months back not to bring up Maggie after finding out she was hiding from us. It had been a rough few weeks after we decided not to search for her but the daily grind made it easier to push it to the back of our minds.

"I can hear you thinking and I'm almost afraid to ask." Stiles broke through my thoughts.

"It's nothing...I just...I wonder if Maggie will be in school tomorrow. She's got to go to school right?" I glanced over at Stiles to see his grip tighten on the steering wheel.

"If we've learned anything from this summer it's that Maggie doesn't have to do anything that she doesn't want to. Be a decent friend, be honest and considerate." Stiles rolled his eyes bitterly. He had managed to keep himself together after his panic attack but I still worried about him. He'd thrown himself into other things while I was busy but I always felt like there was a part of him that was just sad.

"What about Allison? Heard anything from her yet?" Stiles changed the subject.

"No we haven't called or texted all summer, that was the agreement but I don't think she'll be back at school tomorrow. Not after all that happened anyway." I shrugged sadly. I would love to see her, talk to her and ask her how her summer was but thinking too much about it would only bring me down.

"Well I think she is." Stiles chuckled making me look over at him as we stopped at a red light.

"I'd say pretty definite, like 100%." Stiles nodded his head to the car parked next to us and my eyes almost bugged out of my head when I saw that it was Lydia and Allison. Just seeing her smile made my heart slow down. She was just as beautiful as she always was, hair shorter, lighter than the last time I saw her. She looked happy. That was of course until she caught sight of me.

"Oh my God...oh my God!" I freaked out trying to lean back in the seat to disappear. Stiles ignored my freaking out and waved at Lydia.

"Can you just drive please Stiles!" I begged.

"Scott, it's a red light. It's illegal and I'm the Sheriff's son." Stiles shrugged making me glare at him.

"You break the law on a daily basis, probably more than anyone else in town! Please just go!" I pointed out.

"While that it probably true, it is pretty hurtful. Maybe we should just talk to them, you know? Just say something and get it out of the way." Stiles was being serious and I shook my head at him.

"No! Stiles don't!" He leaned across me to roll down the window but even though he disregarded my pleas, Lydia ran the light driving away from us. I let out a sigh of relief but became instantly mortified.

"You know they probably didn't see us." Stiles pulled a face and I shoved him back to his side of the jeep.

"You're the worst kind of friend! God! I never would have done that to you if it were Maggie." I covered my face with my hand trying not to think about the utter fail that just happened.

"Well Scott you'd have to find her first to do that. What's the big deal? Are you two just going to avoid each other?" Stiles pressed on the gas once the light turned green and started down the road. Lydia wasn't too far in front of us and I suddenly panicked.

"What are you doing? They're going to think we're following them!" I freaked.

"Do you see any turns Scott? There's not much I can do." Stiles waved his hand around.

"Well do something!" I raised my voice getting him to look over at me before biting his bottom lip and hitting the breaks hard.

"Happy? Now we look like weirdos, way more than usual." Stiles complained. I noticed that Lydia's car stopped a few feet ahead though. Stiles and I exchanged a look of confusion and I actually wished Maggie was here to tell me what to do. She was always good at explaining strange occurrences like this. Their screams filled the air suddenly and we both jumped out running towards them as they barreled out of the car. I put my hand on Allison's arm and she looked surprised.

"It ran right into us!" She yelled looking at the deer that had busted it's way into the windshield. I'd never seen something so bizarre.

"Are you okay?" I asked looked her over. She let out a heavy breath and nodded.

"I'm okay." She gave a reassure smile and I dropped my hands from her arms. There was a brief moment of silence before Lydia started shrieking.

"I'm not okay! I'm totally freaking out! How the hell does it just run into us!?" Stiles tried to comfort her as I walked around to really get a good look at the deer. The fur on its back was raised and I thought back to something Deaton had told me.

"I can't put my finger on it. I keep thinking back to the night she said goodbye. She was up in arms and distant. I keep thinking about her body language because she never really stood with her shoulders up like she was preparing to fight-" Deaton cut me off.

"You know when animals are scared, the hair on their back tenses up. The scarier the threat, the more tense the coat. Perhaps she was just afraid of telling you what she was doing out of fear of disapproval." Deaton suggest.

"She should know that she doesn't have to be afraid of me." I argued but he put his hand on my shoulder.

"Not scare of you Scott but for you."

"I saw its eyes right before it hit us. It looked…it looked crazy." Lydia rubbed the back of her neck but I shook my head.

"No it was scared." I put my hand on the tensed fur and cringed.

"Actually it was terrified." I took my hand off of the deer and looked back at the darkness of the road. Whatever the deer was running from literally scared it to death. Stiles called his dad and a police officer took Lydia and Allison home. I wanted to stop by the clinic and tell Deaton about what had happened but it was getting too late. I had to be up early for my morning routine which I wanted to continue into the new school year which meant up by 6AM, work out, shower and off to school. Mom was working the late shift so I'd have to get myself up and out like usual but now that I had my new bike, I wouldn't need to catch a ride with Stiles.

When I got home I looked through my phone contacts and stared down at Maggie's name under my favorites. Her voicemail box had been full for quite some time but I decided to send a text on the off chance the phone would somehow be near her.

**Text to Mags:**   
_If you find your way home, be careful. Something's up._

I put my phone on charge and tried to get some sleep in spite of all the thing's running around in my head.

**[Stiles POV]**

I had gotten up early and started researching some statistics on animal collisions across the United States. Last night had peaked my curiosity more than anything has in a while. Animals didn't just run head on into cars. They were usually hit crossing the road. Drivers are supposed to hit animals, not the other way around. I could hear my dad roaming around the house and calling up the steps to me but I was too engulfed in what I was reading to answer him until he'd come to the doorway.

"Do you know how many vehicle collisions last year involved deer? 247,000!" I informed him making him let out a sigh.

"Oh God please go to school." Dad groaned but I just waved him off.

"That's just deer crossing the road. This one came right up the middle." I kept typing trying to dig for more logical answers considering I couldn't just tell my dad that something supernatural was probably brewing.

"Come on, I'm not going to beg you." He walked into the room and I snorted.

"Good I'm impervious to your influence anyway." I shrugged.

"Would you consider a bribe?" He inquired.

"Couldn't meet my price." I still didn't bother to stop what I was doing. He'd give up eventually.

"Extortion?" He tried making me laugh. If only he knew what was really going on in Beacon Hills.

"You've got nothing on me." Dad and I had worked through the tension that was caused by Matt's attack. I think it mostly got better because of how Maggie pretty much decided she was going to pull a disappearing act on me but I didn't care. I'm glad I was able to talk to my dad again without feeling like the worst son on the planet. There was still room for improvement but I'd take what I could get.

"Is this about Maggie? Are you dragging your feet because you think she'll be there today?" My fingers stopped typing immediately. Much like Scott and I, my dad agreed not to bring Maggie up for the rest of the summer. After my episode in his office, I decided that it would be best to try and block all things Maggie out of my head for my own sanity's sake. I couldn't think about where she was. I couldn't think about what she was doing or who she was with because just knowing that she was okay with having us worried about her pissed me off to no end. I also couldn't think about it for too long without realizing that I told her I was in love with her before she took off and it didn't seem to matter.

"I thought we had a deal?" I breathed closing my eyes in frustration.

"Summers over kiddo. You two are going to have to face each other eventually." I looked back at my dad who held that familiar frown. The same frown that he held when I told him I didn't want him to tell me if Maggie contacted him again. The same frown that I got whenever we ran into Nathan in the grocery store. I hated that frown. It was like a pity frown.

"Really? Because you know for a fact that she'll be back at school? It's been 4 months Dad. Radio silence." I reminded him but he just shook his head.

"I just don't want you to go back to how you were when she first came home. That was a really hard time for you and I don't want to see you like that again. You've managed to get through the summer, maybe you should let her explain-" I cut my dad off, unable to hear his speech.

"I told her I was falling for her dad. She knew how I felt and she took off anyway. Whatever happens now is on her. It's not like before. I could never hate Maggie. All of this would be so much easier if I could but I can't. All I can do is keep going, you know?" Dad gave me that same frown again and I spun around in my chair unwilling to look at it for any longer.

"Can we focus on what's important here? Like how the animals of Beacon Hills could be in an uproar that we are ridiculously unprepared for?" I gestured to my computer screen before continuing my search.

"Alright, that's it." I felt my chair being pulled backwards as I struggled to keep my fingers typing but Dad managed to flip me out of my desk chair.

"Police brutality? That's the angle you decided on? You're becoming a statistic, Dad." I looked up from the floor rubbing my elbow as he extended his hand to help me up.

"You're tough, Son. I think you'll be just fine. Now get your butt to school and stay out of trouble. Let's try something different this year, like attending classes and not torturing the staff." Dad gave me a push towards the door and I rolled my eyes. I made no promises for any of that, especially considering I would probably have to beg, borrow and steal just to make sure I got through the track team crap in order to make the team in the spring.

I pulled into the parking lot at school and noticed it seemed busier than usual. New freshman, old faces but I was only worried about finding Scott. He managed to find me first and started rambling about a set of bikes in the lot that were better than his dirt bike.

"Scott let's be real here, dirt bikes aren't really up on the list of super cool things. I mean I know some huffy's that are cooler than a dirt bike." Scott glared at me as we walked up the huge set of stairs.

"So I was thinking of texting Derek for help." I knew Scott was merely using words to get back at me for calling his bike lame but I was still unamused by his tact.

"You want to ask Derek for help? Why? Why would anyone ever ask Derek Hale for help with anything? Unless you want tips on eyebrow maintenance or how to brood in a leather jacket." I mocked as we walked through the hallway.

"He's got the triskele tattoo on his back so he obviously knows a way I can get my tattoo to stay without it healing." Scott pointed out. I remembered the tattoo from when I got stuck with him in my room with Danny. I wondered briefly how a tattoo would stick to a born wolf but never bothered asking.

"Yeah but don't you think his hands might be a little full?" I gestured to the missing posters with Erica and Boyd's faces on them. I had asked Maggie in one of my postcards if she knew where they might be but after the whole debacle, I suspected the cards weren't even coming from her to begin with so it was pretty much pointless.

"Maybe he knows where they are. Maybe they're with-" I put my hand up stopping Scott and he let out a sigh. I didn't have to say anything though, we both got distracted by the sounds coming from the principal's office. After Gerard, we'd basically gotten the original staff back but it was apparent that he left some unusual things behind.

"What the hell is this?" We watched him pull a large sword from under the desk to show his secretary and I shoved Scott down the hallway.

"Don't make eye contact. Stay off their radar." I muttered keeping my head down. I pulled Scott into the English classroom and sat down near the back. Scott didn't sit down next to me though. He sat closer to the front which meant I had to get up and move which I groaned about letting him know I was still not completely happy with his pro-school attitude. I mean I was proud of the guy for stepping up but school was still school.

I watched people enter the classroom and tried not be anxious about every dark haired girl that came through the door. I hated that I'd gotten so good at pushing my anxieties away that just hearing her name brought me right back to where I'd started at the beginning of the summer. Lydia and Allison walked into the classroom and looked for empty seats. Lydia surprisingly sat next to me but Allison was sort of forced into the seat in front of Scott.

"Is this for Maggie?" She asked quietly.

"Uh no no way. She's gone. I mean she's not gone-gone, actually I'm not sure but that seat is totally available." Scott rambled pathetically as I watched in horror. She sat down awkwardly and Scott looked at me for assurance which I was unable to give without a sarcastic thumbs up.

"Maggie's not back yet?" Lydia asked making me look over at her.

"How did you know she was gone?" I questioned unaware that she was even privy to Maggie leaving.

"She was the one who helped Derek teach Jackson the wolfie way. She mentioned a vacation." I was baffled by that information. I had no idea she had a hand in all that.

"Did she tell you where she was going or what she was doing?" I asked curiously earning a strange look from Lydia.

"Why are you asking me?" Lydia countered.

"Because she didn't tell any of us. She just sort of took off. We haven't talked to her in months." Lydia looked at me with a slight frown, that same frown my dad always gave me. I quickly cleared my throat.

"That's not true, Nathan's talked to her and according to him she's fine and dandy. She just doesn't want to talk to us." I explained further.

"I'm sorry to hear that. I'm sure she has a good explanation." Lydia couldn't even look at me when she said it.

"Yeah...she always does." I rolled my eyes as I said it wanting to press more into whatever Lydia seemed to know but before I could, my phone vibrated in my pocket along with everyone else's in the room.

"Well that's very pretty little liars." I muttered earning a look from Allison and Lydia.

"Not that I watch that…I'm just-"

"The offing was barred by a black bank of clouds and the tranquil waterway leading to the uttermost ends of the earth flowed somber under an overcast sky, seemed to lead into the heart of an immense darkness." A woman with dark hair and ruffled blouse walked in reciting the text message that read on my phone.

"This is the last line of the first book we are going to read. It is also the last text you will receive in this class. Phones off everyone." She smiled at the room as she wrote her name on the board and I put my phone back in my pocket. There was no way I would ever turn my phone off completely. My dad was a police officer. I was worry prone. The last bell finally rang and she closed the door making me take a deep breath.

Maggie wasn't coming back to school.

**[Isaac's POV]**

I came to with the burning sensation in my side still very much taking over my body but when I tried to get up, my legs refused to work.

"Whoa! Back in bed!" Melissa came back in, shutting the door and helping me into the bed.

"I need my clothes-" I started to scramble but she put her hands up.

"You can't leave like this Isaac. You're still in bad shape and you're scheduled for surgery, which is going to be pretty hard to explain." She peeled away the bandage on my side and looked at the wound.

"It's visibly healing but there's not much I can do." I looked at the people moving around outside the door and felt dread settling him.

"Isn't there something you can do? Anything at all? I mean I don't need surgery, obviously." I pointed out but she shook her head like she was unsure of having me move around with my side looking as bad as it looked.

"It doesn't hurt that bad." I tried to put her mind at ease.

"Well it looks horrible." She rolled her eyes.

"Maggie will fix it. I'll be fine. I just need to get out of here." It took me a second to realize I had slipped up again mentioning Maggie and I wasn't getting away with it this time as she stared at me stunned.

"You mentioned Maggie earlier but I thought it was because of blood loss. Do you know where she's been?" Melissa asked holding my gaze but I felt like looking into her eyes would only make me look like a liar.

"Yeah I know and she's safe." That was the blanket story we were supposed to tell but I could see by the look on her face that she had already been told by someone else and she wasn't having it anymore.

"You know what? If you want me to help you with all this, you're going to have to give me more than that." She clicked her tongue to her teeth and waved her hands over my body. I let out a sigh and knew Maggie was going to be pissed but I was out of options. I had no way of contacting her or Derek and if I didn't hurry up and get out of here, I was going under the knife.

"I know Maggie's safe because she's been with me all summer." I said slowly watching her eyebrow's go up.

"Been with you where?" Melissa pressed making me look up at her.

"Here…in Beacon Hills…she never really left." Melissa's jaw dropped at the new information and glanced towards the door at the sounds of people arguing. I could hear that it was the Sheriff but the smells were all too hard to pinpoint in the hospital to see who he was arguing with.

"Have you tried calling Derek?" I broke through her silent battle with her thoughts and she shook her head.

"I've tried like 5 times. Do you have any other emergency werewolf contacts that pick up their phones or aren't in hiding?" She questioned almost bitterly.

"Yeah…call Scott." I watched her face freeze. I'd definitely catch a beating from Maggie for involving Scott but I was desperate. I needed help and there was no way I was going to be able to do this one on my own.

"I'm sorry that I have to ask…really I am but he's the only one-" She put her hand on my shoulder.

"I'll call him but you're going to tell him about Maggie. He deserves the truth." I put my weight back on the bed and watched Melissa walk out of the room, shutting the door behind her. I looked around the room and felt helpless. We'd been in some tight situations this summer but none that left me alone without a way to get ahold of anyone. Certainly not this close to the people we were trying to hide from. Scott was probably going to level me, if Maggie didn't get to me first.

I started to doze off for a few moments but when I let my eyes blink open slowly, I saw Maggie standing over me.

"M-Maggie? We've got…we've got to get out of here." I felt my eyes growing heavier and heavier by the second.

"Silly boy, I'm not Maggie but we'll find her after we take care of you." I used all my strength to keep my eyes open and really stare at the woman's face knowing it was not truly Maggie. I glanced down at her feet and felt my heart jump into my throat.

"Count with me now…one…two…three." I watched Kali's eyes go red and her claws extend as my eyes rolled back in my head again sending me back into darkness as my heartbeat pumped a mile a minute. My time had finally run out.

**[Scott's POV]**

After completely making an ass of myself in front of Allison, I decided that I needed to try and shake it off and just focus on what I promised myself I would. School. I started copying the notes on the board that Ms. Blake instructed us to copy when Allison's arm twisted backwards holding out a slip of paper. I glanced at Ms. Blake before taking the note and opening it up. I was surprised that it said she wanted to talk to me. I mean the two times I've seen her since she's been back were either embarrassing or chaotic. I really wanted to talk to her, ask her how her summer was and see how she was doing. I knew it would be insensitive of me to ask about us considering what happened with her mom but I knew we had to talk about that eventually. I just hoped it was what she wanted to talk about too.

"Mr. McCall? Gather your things please." I quickly put my hand over the note assuming I was busted but Ms. Blake gestured for me to come to the front of the class. Stiles gave me a confused look before I followed Ms. Blake out into the hallway.

"I'm sure it's an emergency if your mother says you need to leave school but I'm going to give you a warning in the nicest possible way. I'm well aware of your attendance record and I don't want to see you slip back into old habits." Ms. Blake seemed nice enough. Most teachers wouldn't care about their students that much but she genuinely seemed concerned about my education.

"I won't. It's going to be different this year." I reassured her.

"Resolutions are only good if you stick with them, Scott." She didn't seem to believe me.

"I will. I promise I won't be ephemeral." I smiled at her proud of myself for using my word of the day on someone other than my mom or Deaton. I turned my phone back on and immediately called my mom.

"Scott? Are you on your way?" She sounded upset.

"Yeah what's wrong?" I asked picking up my pace as I ran out into the parking lot.

"Isaac's here. He was in a really bad accident and I can't get ahold of Derek." I jumped on my bike and situated my backpack on the back.

"I'm on my way." I hung up the phone and kicked the bike started. I tried not to speed the whole way to the hospital but something about my mom's voice made me anxious. What the hell could have happened to Isaac? Where had he been all summer anyway and why wasn't Derek keeping track of his beta? I parked in the lot and my mom was standing at the front doors.

"How bad is he?" I asked putting my hand on her arm but she nodded her head.

"He's healing but slowly. He needs to get out of here before they try to operate on him but he came in with another girl who we can't seem to identify and she's also looking for Derek." We started down the hallway and I tried to stay focused on everything mom was telling me.

"Scott, Isaac said he's been with Maggie all summer." I froze before we got to the elevator at the mention of Maggie's name.

"What? What do you mean? Is she here?" My mom frowned at me.

"No sweetheart she's not here but he said she never left Beacon Hills." I was trying to comprehend what my mom was saying but it was impossible to believe that Maggie had been here this whole time.

"I wasn't sure if I should tell you because of all the progress you've made this summer. I know it was hard for you and Stiles when you found out she was gone and whatever Maggie's been doing seems to be pretty dangerous considering the condition Isaac showed up here in. I just want you to be careful." I put my hands on my mom's shoulders and she let out a heavy breath.

"Nothing is going to change. This year I'm going to be a better everything. A better son, a better student, a better friend. I promise you that all my hard work won't be in vain. I'll get Isaac out of here and I'll figured out where Maggie's been. Stiles will let me borrow his notes." I explained seeing the tension leave her body.

"Okay, he's in room 215. If you hurry then you should catch him before surgery." I kissed mom's forehead before running towards the elevator. I jumped in and hit the button for the second floor but before the doors could close a walking cane stopped the doors from shutting.

"Can you hit the button for the second floor please?" A blind man walked into the elevator and stood behind me. Despite the button already being lit up, I hit it again just so he would hear that I'd hit it for him. When the doors finally opened on the second floor, the man put his hand on my shoulder.

"You wouldn't mind helping me out for a second, would you?" I couldn't really blow the guy off. He was blind after all.

"Yeah sure." I led him slowly down the hallway, realizing all the time I was wasting by doing a good deed but the moment I dropped him where he needed to be dropped, I took off in the opposite direction trying to find Isaac's scent. He wasn't in the room that smelled the strongest but the scent didn't stop. I followed the trail and watched him being wheeled into the elevator by a tall, bald guy who smirked at me. I immediately picked up the guys scent and knew he was a werewolf. I saw Isaac was slumped over, non-responsive in the wheelchair and let out a low growl.

He laughed at me as if I wasn't going to challenge him but when I started sprinting towards the closing elevator doors he let out a growl of his own. I jumped into the elevator just before the doors could close and got to my feet quickly. When I looked at the man now, I could see that he was an alpha. He wasted no time in tossing me against the wall of the elevator hard making Isaac's chair drift to the corner of the elevator. Every time I tried to fight back, he got the jump on me, throwing me from one side to the other.

"When will you pathetic little wolves learn?" He snarled at me before chucking me into the light fixture above.

"Looks like you'll learn the hard way just like the little Hale wolf." My eyes went wide when he mentioned Maggie. He picked me up by my throat and held me about 2 feet off the ground.

"You're dealing with an alpha." I tried to take in air but it was impossible with his grip. The doors to the elevator opened and he suddenly let go of me.

"So am I." Derek appeared practically out of thin air, tossing the alpha out of the elevator and making him slide down the hallway. Derek looked down at me extending his hand.

"Aren't you supposed to be in school?" He asked as I let out a relieved sigh.

"Who the hell was that and what the hell is going on?" I asked letting Derek hoist me to my feet.

"There's no time for that. I need you to help me get him out of here." Derek hit the button for the garage of the hospital and I watched the doors close on the alpha has he glanced back at us. I followed along behind Derek as he picked Isaac up out of the chair and carried him towards a new SUV.

"This is yours?" I questioned as he got Isaac into the backseat. I opened the door on the other side to help pull him in.

"Yeah, Maggie has the car." He said not even looking at me. I thought for a second about letting him take off with Isaac but I had to know what was going on. I had to find out what he knew about Maggie. I jumped in the passenger seat and gave him a look that he didn't question as he took off towards the preserve. I helped him get Isaac inside the dusty, condemned house and settling him on a table that wasn't there the last time I'd been in the house. I looked around and actually noticed quite a few things that had changed as Derek moved things around.

"You don't still live here, do you?" I questioned as he knelt to the floor and started pulling up floor boards.

"No the county took it over but there's something here she'll need to help heal the wound of an alpha." Derek kept his eyes down as he rummaged through whatever rested below the charred wood.

"She…you said she." Derek looked up at me for a moment.

"The alpha in the elevator, he said I'd learn the hard way like the little Hale wolf." Derek let out a sigh and I stepped closer to him hovering.

"You've been with her this whole time while we were freaking out, worried to death that something bad was happening to her. Is she alright? Where is she now? Who was that alpha and what did he do to her?" Derek finally stopped what he was doing to look at me.

"You're asking me questions that I know you already know I can't answer. The alpha is from a rival pack and I'm handling it. I know you want to help and you already did. I owe you one but as far as Maggie is concerned, as far as this pack is concerned…it's my problem. Go home and be a teenager." Derek stood up on his feet and walked towards the table to spread out what he'd retrieved.

"Fine. You won't talk about Maggie and you won't tell me about what's going on but can I at least cash in that favor from you?" I figured if I could get Derek sitting down and worried about something other than Isaac and the current threat, I might be able to talk him into letting me know what's really going on with Maggie.

**[Stiles POV]**

I waited for Scott to text me for the longest time about why he was pulled out of class but he never texted back. I caught sight of a bandage on Lydia's ankle.

"Hey…did you get that in the accident?" I gestured to her leg and she rolled her eyes.

"No Prada bit me." I felt my jaw slack.

"Your dog?" I said in disbelief. Why would her dog bite her? She's had that dog for ages. Dogs don't just suddenly forget their owners and bite them.

"No my designer handbag. Yes of course my dog." She rolled her eyes at me.

"Has he ever done that before?" She nodded at me but didn't hold eye contact.

"Okay then maybe this is a pattern? You know how like animals start to act weird right before an earthquake or something?" I pointed out. It couldn't be a coincidence. The summer was too quiet. Not one peep out of supernatural land and now suddenly there are suicidal deer's and dogs are biting their owners.

"So what? An earthquake is coming?" Lydia shook her head clearly doing the probability silently.

"Or something. Maybe it means something's coming, something bad." My phone lit up on my desk and I glanced up at Ms. Blake who was writing on the board.

"It was a deer and a dog." Lydia said as I looked at the message on my phone.

**Text from Unknown Number:**   
_Keep your head down. Protect Lydia._

I pinned my eyebrows together, confused by the text. Who would send me a text like that from an unknown number? I looked around the room and everyone else had their head in their notes.

"What is that thing you say about three's? Once, twice-" Lydia was cut off by the sound of a bird slamming into the window. We all looked over towards the impact where a blood stain and a crack were all that was left of a kamikaze bird. I looked down at my phone reading the message over again and jumped when another bird slammed into the window making Ms. Blake jump backwards.

Suddenly the birds started breaking through the glass like a scene ripped straight out of the Hitchcock film. Students scrambled and I winced when a bird clawed my forehead. I remembered the text as Ms. Blake screamed for everyone to get down. Screams and the sound of flapping wings filled the small classroom as people tried to fight birds out of their hair and clothes. I looked over to Lydia who was on her knees panicking. I shoved the desk out of the way and shielding her from the birds, letting her take cover under the desk and my body. Lydia's whole body shook beneath mine and I kept batting birds away with my free arm.

It felt like the attack lasted a few seconds before we all slowly started to get to our feet to see the room in complete disarray, dead birds everywhere and people with cuts all over their bodies.

"Are you okay?" I looked at Lydia as she stood up and she nodded her head looking around the room. I glanced over my shoulder as Allison got to her feet and saw that she had a cut on her hand.

"You're bleeding." I pointed out and she pointed back at me.

"So are you. Is she okay?" Allison looked past me towards Lydia and I nodded. I tried calling Scott but he still hadn't answered his phone yet and by the time my dad arrived with some of his officers, they were releasing kids to go home. Ms. Blake was thoroughly shaken by her first class but she was maintaining. I almost felt like I needed to say welcome to Beacon Hills where strange, supernatural occurrences is the norm.

"Mr. Argent, you wouldn't have any insight to this would you?" Dad walked up to Chris Argent as he spoke privately with Allison.

"Me?" He seemed surprised by my dad's question. I was surprised by my dad's random question so I could understand his confusion.

"Yeah all this bizarre animal behavior…you must have seen something like this before, right?" Dad pressed on making Chris look over at Allison.

"I'm not sure why I would or why you'd think I would?" He chuckled trying to understand where my dad was coming from.

"I'm sorry I could have sworn I overheard my son talking about how you were an experienced hunter." My eyes went wide when Chris Argent looked over at me and I instantly went back to checking my phone wishing for the power of invisibility.

"Right. Not anymore, sorry." Chris Argent was no longer a hunter. That was new information. Information I'd have liked to obtain without my dad throwing me under the bus but obtained nonetheless. Dad checked on Allison before heading for the door. I followed him out and he rubbed his temples.

"I want you home. Whatever's going on with the animals around here is bizarre enough without you getting caught in it." Dad pointed his finger at me.

"What are you going to do?" I asked curiously. There wasn't much my dad could actually do as the Sheriff. I mean this is mother nature we're talking about. He couldn't slap some handcuffs on her.

"I'm going to the animal clinic to see if Dr. Deaton has any answers for me. Get home and stay inside." Dad took off once more and I finally got Scott on the phone as I walked out to the jeep.

"Finally I've been trying to reach you! We've got a serious problem at school. Ms. Blake's-" Scott cut me off.

"Can you tell me about it later?" Scott seemed preoccupied.

"Um nope I'm pretty sure this qualifies for immediate discussion." I said firmly. I could hear Scott let out a sigh like he was in the middle of something.

"I'm at Derek's. Meet us here." Scott said quickly before hanging up before I could ask him what the hell he was doing at Derek's. I hadn't seen Derek since the night things went down with Jackson and Gerard. He'd managed to successfully avoid all of us all summer as well. He apparently didn't know how to answer a text either judging by all the times I sent him one asking about Maggie with no response.

I hit my steering wheel frustrated with myself. I was off to a terrible start with the whole blocking Maggie out thing. It seemed like my brain was determined to keep her in there, even as I pulled up to the charred house. I hated coming here. I hated what it made me think of. I walked through the door to see Isaac in a hospital gown passed out and lying on a table and Scott sat in front of Derek.

"I'm not even sure I want to know what's going on." I waved my hands between them and the unconscious Isaac.

"Derek agreed to help me with my tattoo after I got him out of bind." I watched Scott give Derek a strange look as he narrowed his eyes on Scott's arm.

"A bind that ended with Isaac wearing a dress and being knocked out? I mean not that I have a problem with that. I like him silent as opposed to annoying me with every word that falls out of his mouth." I moved towards the two of them.

"I can see you haven't changed much in the last few months." Derek held out his hand towards Scott and he lifted his arm so he could grab it. I rolled my eyes at Derek's snide comment and moved behind him as he surveyed Scott's arm.

"Yeah I can see it. Two bands right? What does it mean?" Derek asked making Scott sit back on the crate he was sitting on.

"I don't know. It's just something I trace with my fingers. I can't get it out of my head." Scott explained making as much sense now as he did at the parlor.

"Why is this so important to you?" Derek pressed much like I had.

"Do you know what the word tattoo means?" Scott asked making me snort.

"To mark something." I answered giving Derek a wink. He didn't acknowledge my answer but Scott shook his head.

"That's in Tahitian. In Samoan it means open wound." My eyebrows went up in surprise at Scott's random fact. I didn't know he'd actually researched into tattoos up to this point. I thought it was more of an impulse buy.

"The night that Maggie left, I could tell something was off. Not because she rushed a goodbye or because she told me not to keep in touch but because of what she said when she showed up. She said that when you fall in love, you open yourself up to someone. You give them the ability to completely break you down in the worst way possible and sometimes love just isn't enough. Sometimes all you're left with is an open wound. All you can do is learn to deal with the aches and pains and keep moving forward." I swallowed the lump that had been growing in my throat the moment he mentioned Maggie.

"I always knew I wanted to get a tattoo when I turned 18 but I decided I wanted to get it now as a reward for not calling or texting Allison all summer. Even when I really wanted to. Even when it was so hard not to, especially without having Maggie around to talk to. I was just trying to give her the space she wanted. The space they both wanted. I know why Allison wanted space, I get it. I just…I don't know why Maggie wanted space too." Scott let out a sigh and leaned forward, putting his elbows on his knees.

"Four months later and it all still hurts. It feels like-"

"Like an open wound." I finished his sentence making him look up at me.

"Why didn't you ever tell me she said that?" I asked seeing him shrug his shoulders.

"You were already going through losing her again, I didn't think it would do you any good to hear that when you were already feeling it." Scott explained. Derek finally glanced over at me recognizing what Scott had just said before pulling something out of a box next to his leg.

"The pains going to be worst than anything you've ever felt." Derek said with a straight face like a true sadist.

"Do it." Scott took a deep breath as Derek lit a blow torch.

"Oh wow…nope. I'm out. I'll be outside playing angry bird-" Derek reached back and grabbed my shirt.

"You can hold him down." Derek shoved me back to where I was standing and I tripped over a root that was on the floor before getting behind Scott and placing my hands on his shoulders.

"Oh my God." I mumbled the closer Derek got with the torch. The moment it made contact with Scott's skin, he started freaking out.

"HOLD HIM DOWN!" Derek yelled at me over Scott's screams. I pressed down harder on his shoulders but Scott was a freaking werewolf. There was only so much I could do as his skin was being burned through. After a few moments of trying to grit my way through Scott's screams, his body went slack and he passed out.

"He'll be okay." Derek finished burning the skin of Scott's arm and put the torch down. I admired the black ink that now adorned Scott's bicep and had a new respect for it after hearing what he'd said earlier. Scott deserved it. I admired the restraint he had with giving Allison her distance this summer. I actually felt a bit ashamed in myself for having slipped so many times with trying to contact Maggie. I looked over at Derek as he sorted through some things in a box on his lap. I watched him walk over to check on Isaac and he glanced at his watch like he was waiting for something.

"So I guess asking you how Maggie's been would be stupid." I finally broke the silence that had filled the room.

"Why would it be stupid?" Derek shrugged like it was stupid for me to mention her and not actually ask.

"Because I'm not a complete idiot. If Nathan knows where she's been then so do you and I'm sure you'll just give me the blanket statement like he did." Derek turned around to face me.

"She's doing the best she can." I felt my body tense. Doing the best she could was hardly fine. Nathan had been saying she was fine and that she was safe but Derek had basically just shattered that illusion.

"What's that supposed to mean? I thought she was doing fine?" I took a step towards Derek and he pursed his lips like he knew he'd already said too much.

"She's been through a lot these past few months." Derek dismissed as he walked towards me to put the torch away.

"We've all been through a lot." I said throwing my arms out but this time Derek stopped what he was doing and looked over at me with a pained expression.

"I guess I didn't realize how important you two were to her life until you weren't there to help her through." I held Derek's gaze for a few moments before Scott shot awake and started breathing heavy. He grabbed his arm and smiled at the two bands that decorated the skin now.

"It worked." Scott ran his fingers across the bands and Derek looked away from me.

"How do you feel?" I cleared my throat handing Scott his shirt. He pulled it over his head and moved his sleeve up to look at the tattoo some more.

"I feel surprisingly good." Scott looked over at me and I tucked my hands in my pockets.

"It looks pretty damn permanent now." We started for the door, leaving Derek back in the room with Isaac.

"Maybe we need something permanent right now." I laughed at Scott.

"I'm not getting a tattoo Scotty but it's a nice thought." I hit his chest but he shook his head.

"No I mean about the other stuff. Everything that's happened the past few months. Everything just changes so fast. Everything's been so ephemeral." I stopped and looked at Scott impressed.

"Studying for the PSAT's?" I questioned proudly.

"Yup." Scott opened the front door and I glanced back at Derek watching him look at his phone. Before Scott could walk out of the door, he stopped to stare at it.

"You painted the door…why'd you paint the door?" Scott looked back at Derek who stepped away from Isaac.

"Go home Scott." Derek's face was pleading but Scott just turned his attention back to the door. Scott flicked his wrist and let his claws come out enough to scrap away some of the red paint to see there was a black mark underneath.

"What the-" I tried to focus my eyes on the imagine underneath the paint as Scott started to tear the layer of paint away, slash by slash.

"Scott!" Derek galloped towards us and stopped when he saw just how exposed the foreign symbol was.

"You said there were birds at school right?" Scott looked over at me and I nodded.

"The deer the other night was just like the deer that freaked out in the woods the night I got bit by the alpha…how many are there?" Scott asked Derek who let out a heavy sigh.

"A pack of them…" I ran my hand down my face. A new school year had just started and there was already a new big bad.

"An alpha pack." Derek added.

"Wait what? How is that even possible?" I questioned knowing the basic structure of a pack was made of one alpha and at least 3 betas.

"They have a leader. His name is Deucalion. We know they have Erica and Boyd. We've been trying to find them for the last four months." Scott stepped up towards Derek.

"We who?" I looked from Scott to Derek waiting for the answer but the sound of a rickety door being pried open came from the back of the rotting house.

"Who is it?" I stepped up behind Scott hoping he could tell me if there was a threat about to emerge.

"I can't get a scent on them." Scott whispered over his shoulder as Derek let his gaze drop to the floor.

"You can't get a scent on me because I won't let you." I felt my entire body tense up as the voice came into view around the corner. She stopped short as her boots made the floor boards beneath her feet creak, dark jeans and a dark tank clung to her body as she crossed her arms over her chest.

"Maggie…" Scott said her name in disbelief and she merely nodded her head as a confirmation. After months of radio silence, many embarrassing voicemails and a drunken confession to her bedroom, there she stood. She almost looked taller, more built and somehow darker. Her hair, her skin, her eyes. Everything seemed different. Her eyes flicked to mine and wavered slightly. It was hard to stare at her without feeling the pull in my stomach. I wanted to scream, I wanted to hug her but I couldn't move. I couldn't even say anything.

"Maggie-" Derek breathed but Maggie cut her eyes away from me to put her hand up at Derek.

"Don't. You've said plenty already." She glared at Derek like if she could, she'd knock his head clean off his shoulders.

"What the hell is going on?" Scott moved towards Maggie but she backed away quickly making Scott stop.

"I appreciate that you want to help but we've got it under control. Thank you." Maggie tipped her chin down at Scott showing gratitude before walking towards Isaac as he started to sit up.

"Where is she? Where's the girl?" He said groggily. Maggie ran over and put her hand on his bare chest.

"What girl? Who is he talking about?" Derek walked towards them.

"I called for backup when we got separated. I'll find her but first we need to get him home. I can't work on him here." Maggie pulled the blanket up around Isaac's shoulders and he leaned into her neck. The way she touched him made my jaw clench.

"Maggie, wait a damn second." Scott finally moved close enough towards her for her to actually stop what she was doing and look at him.

"Can you please just talk to us? You've managed to keep us in the dark for months and now that you're back-" Maggie cut him off.

"I'm not back. I never left." Maggie raised her voice.

"What?" I finally spoke up and all three of them looked back at me. I felt my neck heat up from anger but I knew that there was so many things on the tip of my tongue that nothing would come out right.

"Look I can't stand here and catch up with you right now. Isaac is hurt and I'm the only one that's going to be able to make sure he gets healed as quickly as possible. We've been doing just fine on our own so please just stay out of it and let us handle it." Maggie kept her eyes on Scott as he stood with his jaw slack. Derek picked Isaac up and she helped carry him out to the car without another word. Scott turned around and looked at me stunned. Just as quickly as she appeared, she was gone again.

Scott and I stood rooted in the shambles of the Hale home for almost 10 minutes before I snapped out of it. He followed me to the jeep and I drove him home in silence trying to process what had just happened. Maggie was alive and well and apparently hadn't left Beacon Hills. She was wandering around town with Isaac and Derek doing who knows what while I went through a complete meltdown. I walked into Scott's house still fuming, feeling Scott's eyes on me, watching me carefully like he was waiting for me to erupt but I just shook my head.

"At least we know she's safe. I mean that's a plus right?" Scott finally broke through the silence.

"Safe with Derek? When has anyone ever been safe with Derek? Somethings off with her. I can't put my finger on it but she's not the same Maggie we knew four months ago. She's hiding something." The way she moved to help Isaac made me fume. They had clearly gotten closer over the summer but how close was something I wasn't sure I wanted to know.

"So what are we going to do about it?" I looked over at Scott. I kept thinking of what dad had said about not going back to the same angry, bitter version of myself that I was when Maggie had come back the first time. I didn't want to be that guy again. I didn't want to hold onto that anger but there was no denying the hurt that threatened to poison my system with anger.

"Nothing. She put us in the dark for four months. She obviously doesn't want us to a part of whatever the hell she's gotten herself in so why bother?" I shrugged my shoulders but Scott let out a sigh.

"The guy I fought at the hospital was an alpha, Stiles. A really big, pissed off alpha that apparently had already had one run in with Maggie before. What if whatever is going on is something really dangerous? What if it gets her killed?" I met Scott's eyes this time and knew that he was seriously worried that this threat could actually be capable of killing Maggie. I pinched the bridge of my nose before clasping my hands together. I had no idea what the hell to do now. What I was supposed to feel or what I was even supposed to do about it. Maggie was back and somehow we were both still incredibly lost.


	2. Disconnected

**[Maggie's POV]**

"What the hell happened? Why were they there Derek?!" I shouted as Isaac tried to get comfortable on the couch. He needed to be healed internally and apparently Derek was too busy spilling his guts to Scott and Stiles to bring him home.

"I couldn't reach you guys and Melissa had to call someone." Isaac yelped.

"Shut up and relax." I pushed Isaac's head back onto the pillow and opened the case of herbs that I needed to heal him.

"Where the hell were you? Why weren't you answering your phone?" I ignored Isaac earning a heavy eye roll from Derek.

"I was looking for you." He argued. I couldn't help but throw him an eye roll all my own.

"I told you that I was fine. I had it under control." I defended pulling Isaac's gown open and making him tense a bit from being so exposed. Like I hadn't seen him in his boxers before after living with him for four months.

"You don't get to have it under control Maggie. We had a plan and you went AWOL." Derek gestured to me.

"I called in some back up. You should have stayed the course." I pulled my hair back and out of my face so I could see what I was doing.

"Who was the girl?" Isaac asked.

"She's a mercenary. Deaton gave me her number in case things went south. Derek's eyebrows went up.

"Mercenary? Are you serious? How much did you pay her?" Derek walked around to look at me.

"It doesn't matter. She saved Isaac so it was worth it." I crushed the arnica in the dish and started to spread it over Isaac's skin where I felt the most pain. His legs jerked up slightly and I put my free hand in his hair to massage his scalp.

"If you'd let Scott help us then we wouldn't need to pay people on the outside for help. This is getting ridiculous Maggie." Derek complained. I finally lost it and slammed the salve down on the table I was sitting on.

"You made a promise to me and you broke it!" I yelled causing Isaac to wince.

"Be easy." Isaac hissed. The internal scaring from what the twins had done to him wasn't as bad as I thought it would be but he still needed some healing.

"What did you want me to do? I couldn't knock him out and disappear with Isaac. Scott's not stupid, Maggie." Derek argued.

"I know he's not stupid but there were a million things you could have done instead of spilling your guts. I told you that they aren't getting involved." I ran my hand over Isaac's side once more, softer this time and muttering the incantation in my head repeatedly. Isaac's face started to ease as the tissue under the skin healed.

"We can't do this alone anymore. We're running out of time and we almost lost Isaac this time because you disappeared again." I turned around like I'd just been slapped.

"Hey! I didn't disappear! I got caught up. I thought-" Derek narrowed his eyes at me.

"I know what you thought but we've been over this. You can't take on Deucalion alone. He was not the target. We were trying to get Erica and Boyd and instead we almost lost Isaac." I bit my lip knowing that Derek was right. I caught Deucalion's scent and nothing else mattered in that moment. I wanted the bastard dead. Something about him haunted me. The way he talked like he knew more about what I was than I did or how he made sure I knew that he was familiar with my family made him dangerous. The person he kept trying to impress upon me to be made him the #1 target.

"You're slipping Maggie. We haven't been able to reel you back in for weeks and you're getting reckless." Derek's tone had softened slightly but I shook my head.

"If we can't keep your grounded and focused than maybe we need some extra help. Maybe you need a reminder of who you really are." Derek reached out to me but I pulled away from him.

"You can keep denying that you don't need them in your life but it's become very clear that you do. You can't keep-" I cut Derek off unwilling to hear any of his bullshit about who I am.

"I'M WHO I HAVE TO BE TO SURVIVE!" I growled loudly at him. He stepped back as Isaac sat up and looked between us.

"We've spent months trying to track these bastards down and get Erica and Boyd back and you want me to suddenly endanger the lives of more people? I'm not going to do that Derek! I'm not going to bring them into this because for some reason being a Hale means everyone around us, everyone we love and care about has to die in order for us to live. You stood in the preserve that day and promised me that we would keep them out of this and now you think because I'm not looking for share time and cuddles that I can't do this? I'm trying to protect them! You know that!" I felt like Derek wasn't hearing me. He was looking at me and he was listening but he wasn't hearing how desperate I was to keep Scott and Stiles safe.

"Can I say something?" Isaac spoke up.

"If it's helpful then yes." Derek warned.

"It's not Maggie's fault-" Derek cut Isaac off.

"Shut up." I got up and walked towards Derek.

"What do you want from me? You want me to tell you how I'm feeling? Will that ease your mind? I feel angry. I'm pissed off that we haven't gotten them back yet and I'm terrified that what I did…if anything happens to them…" I shook my head trying not to let myself go there. I wouldn't know what to do if something happened to Erica and Boyd. We've been trying so hard to get them back, it can't all be for nothing.

"Whether you like it or not, Scott is a part of this. Ennis and Deucalion have already got a lock on him. It would be detrimental to him if he didn't know what he was up against." Derek explained making me even more aggravated. I finished working on Isaac and grabbed the blanket off of the back of the couch to put over him.

"I'll talk to Scott and let him know that we can handle this. Do you think you can manage to go and get us something for dinner or is that too much for you, Alpha Hale?" I knew I was testing my limits with Derek but I was pissed. This whole situation was a freaking nightmare. I hadn't planned on seeing Scott and Stiles so soon. I wanted to take down the alpha pack and get Erica and Boyd back safely before having to face them and tell them why I left. The moment I saw Stiles, I felt like there was a part of me that wanted to run to him that I was choking the life out of. I couldn't let him see me the way I am now. I couldn't let him see the monster these alpha's had turned me into. Derek grabbed his jacket off the chair and stomped towards the door.

"You made the choice to push them away and I respect that but keep in mind you also made the choice to follow me as your alpha." Derek gritted his teeth standing by the door.

"Are you pulling rank right now? Are you seriously pulling rank while I heal one of your betas?" I asked glancing back at him with an amused smile.

"I'm not pulling rank. I'm telling you that as your alpha, you need to stick to the plans we make or someone will get hurt. As your family, I'm telling you that I will always have your back but you're wrong about this. You're wrong to think we can do this without help." Derek threw the heavy door open and shut it behind him. I listened for him to ride the elevator down and get in his car to pull away before I let out a frustrated sigh.

"Am I allowed to talk now?" Isaac asked carefully.

"I'm sorry I let you get hurt. Derek is right, I should have been there. Don't you dare tell him I said that." I tucked a piece of my hair behind my ear and huffed out a breath.

"What happened to me wasn't your fault. Derek wasn't saying it was. We know what we're up against by now. He's just freaked out that you're starting to pull away from us." Isaac played with a loose string on the quilt I had covered him with.

"I'm not pulling away. I spend every waking moment with you guys and if you haven't noticed, we're out of time." I cleaned up my remedies kit and Isaac reached out for my hand.

"We both know that's not true. Your nightmares have gotten worse." I pulled my hand out of Isaac's and rested it in my lap.

"Stop listening to me sleep perv." I said wanting to give him a shove but remembering that he was in the process of tissue binding.

"It's hard not to when you're crying." I felt the blush rising in my cheeks embarrassed. The nightmares had come back out of nowhere but I didn't like talking about them. They were always the same. Someone I loved was being tortured in front of me and I couldn't do anything to stop it. I'd gladly die hundred times over before having to watch that.

"How did you feel when you saw them?" I looked up at Isaac who kept his eyes on me. I knew what he was trying to do. It was too hard to think about though. It was too hard to go there and still be able to pull myself back.

"You should rest. If you think you can make it up the steps you can have my bed." I got up from the table and walked towards the balcony door.

"Maggie…those dreams…they're just dreams. This is real. You and me, Derek…Scott and Stiles…if you live in fear of the things in your dreams than it's bound to become your reality." Isaac sat up on his elbows and I shook my head before pushing the door open and shutting it tightly behind me. I gripped the railing and tried to catch my breath. Today had been a lot heavier than most. We'd almost lost Isaac and now I was going to have to somehow convince Scott and Stiles to stay out of this mess to insure they didn't get themselves killed. I couldn't let that happen. I couldn't let those nightmares become my reality.

**[Scott's POV]**

I walked down the sidewalk with Stiles but couldn't get my mind to clear. It was just yesterday that we 'd seen Maggie and discovered that there was a new threat in Beacon Hills but here we were trying to attend some stupid party that wasn't even for our school. I couldn't shake the bad vibes I had. Everything about Maggie seemed different. Her appearance, her posture, even her scent was different. She had dismissed us so quickly just to get Isaac back to wherever he called home without even so much as an explanation for why she froze us out. We've faced everything together. Peter, Kate, Gerard…why was this different?

"Can you stop with that face?" Stiles pulled me from my thoughts.

"What face?" I looked over at him seeing how anxious and annoyed he was.

"Don't what face me, you know what face." He rolled his eyes.

"Well Stiles I was born with this face so I'm sorry if it annoys you." I shrugged not knowing what exactly I could do to correct my face.

"It's that look that screams the last thing you want to be doing is going to a party but this is exactly what we need after the world's worst first day back to school." Stiles explained.

"Yeah but this isn't even our high school's party." I pointed out.

"Which is why it's perfect. Plus Heather has been dying to meet you. Maybe you'll meet someone-" I cut Stiles off.

"I already told you I don't want to date anyone right now." I reminded him making him stop in his tracks.

"I didn't mean meet someone like that. I just mean make a new friend. If anything else, I really want you to meet Heather. She's really great and got me through this shitty summer so please just suck it up for one night and let's try and pretend none of that other crap exists." Stiles was desperate to get his mind off of what happened. I knew it hurt him to see Maggie go with Isaac like that. Hell, just seeing her brush us off like that was enough to make us both pretty upset but there was still a lot up in the air for them.

"Fine. I can do that." I let out a sigh and started walking again.

"YES! I love you, this is why you're my best friend." Stiles gripped my shoulders and started to jump excitedly.

"Tonight, we're moving on. No Allison, no Maggie-" I stopped dead when Maggie walked up from the street towards us.

"Maggie." I hit Stiles chest to stop him and he followed my gaze to see her standing in front of us, leather jacket on and hair pulled back.

"What the hell are you doing here?" Stiles asked more confused than upset. She opened her mouth for a second looking at Stiles like she was about to answer him but then stopped herself.

"I need to talk to you." She flicked her eyes to mine and Stiles huffed.

"Wow that's real mature. Sorry but he's mine tonight." Stiles pulled on my arm and she stepped in front of me.

"It's important." She looked like she wished she could communicate with me using her eyes just to avoid having to upset Stiles but it was already too late.

"Come in with us." I offered making Stiles eyes go wide.

"What? Are you…are you serious?" Stiles complained.

"If it's important than you'll stay and talk to me but I made plans with Stiles tonight." I wasn't going to get involved in another tug of war between them. Maggie didn't seem to want to fight with Stiles either judging by her body language but I could tell she was on edge. Stiles threw his hands up before she could answer and walked ahead of us. When I started to follow, Maggie's feet moved with mine entering the house. I smiled just slightly but she didn't return it.

"STILES! HI!" The blonde girl I could only assume was Heather approached us with a wide grin.

"Hey! There's the birthday-" Stiles was cut off when Heather leaned up to kiss him full on the mouth. Maggie tensed next to me trying to hide herself behind my shoulder. I could actually hear the heavy stuttered thump of her heart like her world was coming to a screeching halt.

"I'm so glad that you made it. This must be Scott and…" Heather looked over Stiles shoulder at us and Maggie shook her head.

"Nobody…I'm nobody." Like she managed to flick some sort of switch in her body, she was standing up straight, jaw squared off and head held high as she looked at Heather.

"Well help yourselves to something to drink. I'm going to steal him for a bit. This party is lacking in some really good wine." Heather held out her hand and Stiles took it, glancing back at the both of us before following Heather downstairs. Heather's friend looked me up and down before rolling her eyes and walking away. Maggie reached into her jacket and pulled out a flask to take a swig from.

"I see you come prepared." I gestured to it as she shoved it back in her jacket pocket. My phone rang again and I saw it was Allison again.

"Aren't you going to answer that?" Maggie asked me before I ignored the call and pocketed it once more.

"We haven't really had a chance to talk yet. I'm kind of nervous about it. I've been focusing on school work most of the summer, trying to at least." I explained.

"That's good. That sounds pretty normal for a teenage werewolf. Why the hell would you want to complicate your life after you just got it sorted out?" She questioned cocking her eyebrow up. I looked her over for a few moments this time, really taken in just how much she had changed. She stood differently, like she was on guard and tense. Her face was more drawn and harsh, her eyes cold.

"Look I can tell you've had some sort of catharsis over the summer-" Maggie's eyebrows pinned together in surprise.

"Catharsis? Wow you really have been studying up. That's good." She cracked a smile and I felt at ease for a moment.

"If you relax and hang out for a bit, we can really talk and get to the bottom of all of this." I took a step towards her but her smile disappeared quickly as she stepped backwards away from me.

"I didn't come here to party Scott. I came here to tell you to steer clear of all of this stuff happening with the Alpha pack. It's not your problem." Her business face was back almost instantly.

"It doesn't have to just be your problem either." I felt like I shouldn't have to tell her that. She should already know it.

"I didn't go MIA for four months for nothing Scott! Everything I've done this summer, I did without you guys, to try and protect you." She explained growing increasingly aggravated with me.

"Since when have you had to start protecting us? We've been doing just fine with all the other threats that have tried to take us down because we've faced it together." I reminded her but she snapped.

"THIS IS DIFFERENT!" She realized she has yelled and caught a few people's attention so she calmed herself.

"They are different! You have no idea what they're capable of. I didn't spend all this time away from you two just to watch you get killed." I could smell the fear and anger wafting off of her. Whatever this pack had done to her over the summer had her visibly shaken.

"You're right, I have no idea what these guys are capable of or what you've been through this summer but you already know we aren't programmed to let you face a threat alone otherwise you wouldn't have left like you did." I pointed out. There's no way we would have let Maggie face whatever this pack is about without us. We've always handled the threats as a unit. We're stronger that way. Maggie glanced away from me and I knew she was trying not to listen out for Stiles heartbeat in the house. I did the same thing at Lydia's birthday party despite fighting with Allison. I had to know she was alright.

"And for one second you forgot that you weren't the only one who carries the burden of being a wolf because I heard your heart stutter when Heather kissed Stiles." I stepped closer to her and she met my gaze this time. Her eyes held a certain pain that I didn't recognize, a pain that was desperate like she had a secret she was keeping but knew she couldn't tell me no matter how much she wanted to. The only thing that caused me to look away was the vibration that came from my pocket.

"Answer your phone Scott." I broke the eye contact I had with Maggie unwillingly and when I looked up, she was heading across the party to grab a red cup. She got lost in the crowd and I silently cursed myself for letting her wander without getting more out of her. There was still so many unanswered questions.

**Text from Allison:**   
_Hey I need to talk to you. It's important. Can I meet you somewhere?_

I looked at the text a few times and knew that I had to face her eventually. Maybe having Maggie around would make it easier to deal with whatever she had to say. I texted Allison the address of the party and went looking through the house for Maggie. I had to get to the bottom of this.

**[Stiles POV]**

I was still in shock as Heather pulled me down the steps, whispering to shut the door behind me as we descended down the steps.

"You know that was Maggie right?" I said gesturing back up the stairs.

"Yeah I remembered the picture you showed me. Is she your date?" Heather asked as we reached the bottom of the steps.

"No way! She just came back and is actually ignoring me as childish as that sou-" Heather's lips were on mine once more making me melt a bit. We'd gone all summer talking about my epic failed attempt at a relationship with Maggie and yet Heather still found me kiss worthy apparently.

"Stiles, I just turned 17 today." She took my hand in hers and pulled me through the shelves of wine.

"Yes, I am quite aware. I'm actually pretty sure I'm supposed to be giving you gifts not the other way around." I joked not sure what to say.

"You know what I want for my birthday?" She smiled up at me biting the corner of her lip as she pushed me into the pillar that sat dead in the center of the shelves.

"A bike?" I wiggled my eyebrows at her but she clearly had her mind on something else as she put both her hands on my stomach to support herself while she kicked off her shoes.

"I want to not be a 17 year old virgin." I swallowed the lump in my throat unsure of what she was saying but before I could form a response she pulled on my neck again to meet her lips. I didn't mind kissing her at all. Kissing was something I definitely wish I had more of in my life but I jump slightly when I felt her hands tug my belt open. I prayed should couldn't tell how aroused I was but judging by the face I must have been making, I was completely ruining the moment.

"Have you never done it either?" She questioned looking almost a little disappointed.

"Turned 17? No not yet. I'll probably have a big party like this when I do. Spoiler alert, you're invited." I chuckled instantly regretting it. She gave me a look waiting for me to fess up and I grumbled.

"No not yet. I told you that I planned that epically pathetic summer romance with Maggie that never actually happened. I kind of figured it would happen then." I explained feeling like such a loser.

"Well would you want to maybe change the girl in that scenario? I mean I know she's back but maybe if she saw just how much of a catch you are, she'd realize how badly she screwed up." Heather was always genuine with me. I know she flirted with me but I never thought it was to the point where she'd want to have sex with me in the wine cellar for her birthday.

"I mean would you be okay with that? Do you want to lose your virginity?" Heather asked almost seeming confused by my hesitation.

"What? Yes of course I do. I'd totally be cool with losing my virginity I'm just a bit…surprised I guess." My head was all over the place. I was very much into the idea of having sex but I didn't picture it like this and when I did picture it, it was with Maggie in someplace private. The thought alone made me angry but the boner I was currently sporting kept my mind from getting too pissed about it.

"You want to…with me?" I questioned again making Heather sigh.

"Look Stiles, I know you're still in love with Maggie." She put a hand on my chest and my jaw dropped.

"What? No! No I'm totally over her." I tried to cover but she just smiled at me sadly. That smile I couldn't escape from all the people who knew how badly I was done by Maggie.

"Yeah fine okay. But shouldn't I get points for really wishing I wasn't?" I admitted softly hoping Maggie couldn't hear us.

"It's totally fine that you are but this is just about sex. She clearly doesn't deserve you. You're a great guy and she should never have treated you the way she did." Heather rested her hands on my chest and I bit my bottom lip. I hated the sympathy I got from people. I hated that Maggie put me in the position to receive it.

"Yeah…I know." Heather lifted my chin so I could look down at her.

"I want to make you feel good, you deserve that, Stiles. I've loved getting closer with you this summer. Let's just end it on a good note as friends who helped each other out." Heather smiled up at me, wetting her lips gracefully and I stared down at her for a few moments. What the hell was I waiting for? I'm 16 years old and a beautiful girl wants to have sex with me. It's nothing like I had planned but screw plans. This was living in the moment. This was my onward and upward. I wasn't going to continue to be the guy who got ditched over the summer anymore. It was time to man up and move on.

"Yeah yeah I can…I can get on board with that. Just friends…having sex." Heather attacked my lips with vigor and I laced my fingers into her blonde curls. I let her continue to take my belt off and unbutton my pants giving me a bit of release from the restrained fabric. Her hands trailed down my stomach but before they could get into my pants, I stopped.

"Wait…I don't have any-" She cut me off, breathless.

"My brother has some in the upstairs bathroom." Heather said, lips red and glossy. My eyebrows went up.

"I should-" She cut me off once more.

"Yes Stiles you should go get them." She giggled at me and I tried to sprint towards the stairs but my pants started to sag. I almost tumbled into the shelf and tried to play it off but she totally noticed. I buckled my pants back up, taking the steps two at a time before finding the second set of stairs to climb. When I found the bathroom, I shut the door and started the search.

"Condoms…condoms…condoms." For a second, I forgot what condoms might actually look like but I blamed the adrenaline. I did own a package of condoms. I had bought some a few weeks after Maggie had moved out of the house. I replaced the old ones she had stumbled across when she put my laundry away one day. I don't know why I ended up buying them but I regretted not having them on me until I finally found the holy grail.

"Yes! Thank God!" I held up the blue package and read the front. The letter's XXL taunted me in bold, yellow blocking. I glanced down at my crotch knowing that most things that were XXL were challenging. I couldn't wear an XXL shirt, I'd swim in it. Whenever I got an XXL hungry man dinner, I always ended up wasting at least a quarter of it and don't get me started on XXL hats. I tried to order one offline and it could basically fit my head and Scott's in it.

"Okay don't freak out. Stay calm Stiles. You can make this work. There's a sweet, beautiful, sexy girl downstairs that wants to have sex with you. She wants to make you feel good and you aren't going to let some stupid feeling in your chest change that! You've got this." I gave myself a mini pep talk before opening the door to the bathroom and taking in a deep breath.

"I've been here long enough. Come and get me now." I turned my head hearing a voice down the hallway.

"Look I know Derek told you that I need this but I can't be here. I can't...do this. Please come get me." Maggie was pleading with someone in the phone, I could only assume it was Isaac. She must have picked up my scent or heard my heartbeat because she turned around startled.

"What are you doing up here?" I asked seeing that she was in Heather's room. She hung up the phone and shoved it in her pocket before giving me a look like she wasn't sure she wanted to talk to me or not. Her mouth opened and closed clearly making her decision.

"I don't get you." She looked up at me but couldn't hold my gaze.

"I was just leaving." She muttered trying to walk past me but I moved in her path.

"You've gotten pretty good at that haven't you?" I gritted out making her step back from me.

"I can't do this with you right now...please" She still couldn't meet my eyes.

"You want me to make this easy for you? Why? You didn't make it easy for me...for any of us." I spat trying to keep myself from getting too angry.

"I have to go." She went for the door again but this time she ran into my chest.

"Wouldn't want to keep Isaac waiting I guess." This got her attention.

"It blows my mind how insanely selfish and self absorbed you are. I mean I should have believed Peter when he said you'd run off with a wolf but Isaac? Really?" Maggie's facial expression hardened.

"Isn't heather waiting to jump your bones?" She growled stepped past me.

"What's that supposed to mean?" I caught her arm and she turned around.

"Your fly is down genius." She gestured to my crotch and I quickly zipped my pants feeling embarrassed.

"Heather's a friend and what goes on between us is none of your business. You left me, remember?" I yelled as she got to the edge of the hallway and stopped. She put her arms up in the air and shrugged her shoulders.

"You're right. You're absolutely right. It's none of my business who you're friends with or who you sleep with." She looked like she was worn down. She had dark circles under her bloodshot eyes.

"I'll stay out of your way." She looked me over once more before retreating down the stairs. I didn't follow her. I wanted to hit the wall. I wanted to hit Isaac in his stupid face. I let out a frustrated sigh before shoving my hands in my pockets feeling a foil packet resting in it.

"Oh crap!" I instantly remembered Heather was waiting for me in the basement and booked it down to meet her.

"Hey I only got one but I think maybe we should talk first..." I reached the bottom of the steps and saw that I was alone in the cellar.

"Heather?" I called out thinking maybe she was going to jump out and maul me with hot hands and wet lips but the only thing left was her shoes. She must have gotten tired of waiting and found another somebody to make magic with. I shoved the condom back in my pocket before trudging up the stairs to find Scott.

"Maggie will you just wait a damn minute!" I heard Scott yell from out front as a couple was coming in the front door, I walked out shutting the door. Maggie glanced over Scott's shoulder at me and shook her head.

"You want me to be honest with you? I'll break it down really simple. This threat, this pack...they're a group of killers much worse than anything we've ever faced. What they want is nothing you can give them. This is on me. So forget that you saw me. Forget about the girl that said goodbye to you 4 months ago because she's gone. She's been gone for a while." Maggie looked between the both of us but Scott wouldn't let her go that easily.

"Why won't you let us help you?" He asked taking a few steps towards her.

"YOU CAN'T!" She bellowed so loud the street lights flickered. She took a deep breath as Isaac pulled up in Derek's camero.

"You both need to stay out of this because the only thing you are to me right now is a distraction and a liability." Maggie said firmly. I swallowed the lump in my throat watching as she got into the car with Isaac who didn't wait long before taking off away from the house. Scott turned around and looked at me.

"You were right. Something happened to her. Something's not right at all." I saw the concern on Scott's face and didn't know what to offer him. I barely recognized the girl that stood upstairs with me. It's like a shell of who she used to be, a zombie walking around and pushing everything that seemed familiar away like it was on fire.

"Let's just call it a night." I patted Scott on the shoulder and he looked back at the house.

"What about Heather? Thing's took a pretty interesting turn early on." Scott reminded me of how much I had blown tonight. I had come pretty close to losing my virginity and I finally got Maggie to talk to me...sort of. I was drained and ready to go home.

"I think she found someone more appealing to occupy her time. Sort of missed my window. I think we've both had enough mental anguish for one night. Let's pack it in." I clapped my hands together but Scott didn't move his feet.

"Actually, I'm sort of waiting for someone." He looked almost embarrassed to meet my eyes. My face fell into an unamused stare.

"Do I even need to ask?" Apparently I didn't because just as the words left my mouth, Lydia and Allison came walking up the sidewalk.

"Really Scott? I mean really?" I cocked an eyebrow at him and he gave me a shrug that told me he couldn't help himself. He looked surprised to see Lydia with her though. I gave her a nod and she flashed me a quick smile that screamed this was the last place she wanted to be as well.

"This isn't the talk we were going to have, is it?" Scott asked but Allison just casted her eyes to the ground shaking her head no.

"I need to show you something." She rolled up the sleeve of her jacket revealing a oddly shaped bruise.

"Wow that's kinda gnarly. How did you do that?" I looked over Scott's shoulder at the bruise. Scott reached out like he was going to touch it but stopped himself.

"There was a girl that came to the school looking for you after the bird attack. She was desperate to find you and I think she might have been followed." Allison explained.

"That's all speculation. Well she was looking for you but Allison may just be a bit too caffeinated." Lydia spoke up brushing a piece of her hair off her face. I caught sight of some darkened skin on her arm too and pointed it out.

"Did she grab you too?" Lydia rolled her eyes at Allison who was silently encouraging her to roll up her sleeve which she eventually did. Staring at both bruises side by side, they almost looked identical.

"Damn that's some grip." I cringed.

"Maybe it was the same girl Isaac was talking about. The one that saved him, that Maggie called in." Scott reminded me.

"Why would she be looking for you? She's never even met you." I furrowed my brows, crossing my arms over my chest.

"Wait, Maggie's back? You found her?" Lydia asked surprised.

"Sort of. Trust me, there's no heartwarming story of her surprise return." I rolled my eyes.

"We need to show this to Derek. Maybe he'll know what it means." Scott offered making both myself and Allison heavy sigh.

"I continue to hate your plans." I rubbed the back of my neck knowing that Derek might be our only option while Maggie was giving us the freeze out. If there was one thing I hated more than what was going on between us and Maggie, it was asking Derek Hale for any sort of assistance.

**[Maggie's POV]**

I started fixing coffee as Isaac paced the floor of the loft. We had run out of ideas to try and restore his memories that Deucalion stole and Deaton refused to do anymore ice bath's on me with my nightmares becoming so frequent.

"Hey Isaac, can you tell me what you used on the floor?" I had my back to him still as I put sugar in my coffee.

"What? I didn't use anything on the floor." I could tell Isaac was now looking at his feet.

"I figured you must have put something on the floor considering all the pacing you were doing could have buffed the floor at least through two levels." I turned around seeing his annoyed expression as I walked a mug of black coffee over to Derek and sat it on the table.

"I'm starting not to like this idea. It sounds kind of dangerous." Isaac continued his pacing.

"It is dangerous." Derek sighed before I hit his shoulder. He rolled his eyes knowing why I'd hit him but didn't say anything.

"Yeah I definitely don't like this plan and I definitely don't like him…no offense." Isaac gestured to me but I walked over to the table he paced in front of. I'd have made him some coffee but caffeine was the last thing he needed right now.

"I wouldn't let him hurt you Isaac. You know that." I put both hands down on the table watching him shake his jittery hands out.

"You'll be fine." Derek didn't bother to look back at Isaac but he knew I was throwing a glare at him. He had been pouting the whole night when he found out that I talked to Scott about staying out of all this. I respect that Derek was the alpha but Scott was my best friend first.

"Does it have to be him though? Can't one of you do it?" Isaac whined.

"He knows how to do it, I don't. It would be more dangerous if I tried doing it myself. Besides do you really want Maggie to be rooting around in what goes on in your head?" Derek finally looked over at Isaac who blushed a bit. I shook my head at the both of them.

"You know, a little empathy wouldn't kill you, pouty wolf." Derek looked at me with exasperation written all over his face. I gave him a cheesy grin and he mimicked it right back.

"You know Scott doesn't trust him right?" Isaac broke through our childishness.

"Personally I trust Scott." Isaac swallowed hard and I kept my eyes on him. He had carefully treaded on the subject of talking to Scott all summer but never had he brought him up like this before. So obviously trying to bring Scott into all of this.

"Do you trust Scott more than me? Do you honestly think I'd let you get hurt again?" I asked honestly walking around the table and he tilted his head to the side like he regretted what he'd said.

"Do you trust me?" Derek asked before Isaac could reach out to me.

"Yeah." Isaac looked like he was afraid he'd managed to offend us both. He gave it a few moments before biting his lip with words he still had on his tongue.

"I still don't like him." Isaac whispered out pulling a face.

"Nobody likes him." Derek sighed making me hit his shoulder.

"It's true and you know it." Derek looked up at me and I rolled my eyes.

"Well…that's true." I shrugged knowing it was fact. I mean I loathed the man but after spending some time with him, he wasn't horrible to be around. The door pulled opened and his designer boots clicked across the floor as he smirked.

"Boys, FYI coming back from the dead has left some of my abilities somewhat impaired but the hearing still works. So I hope you're comfortable saying whatever it is you're feeling straight to my face." I rubbed my forehead as he eyed both Derek and Isaac.

"We don't like you." Derek said bluntly making me snort a laugh. Peter sent me a look as I covered my mouth quickly. Derek slammed the book he was reading shut and tossed it on the table.

"Now shut up and help us." He got to his feet and held Peter's amused gaze. The two of them had only butted heads more now that I was on a speaking relationship with Peter. It's not like I was calling him daddy or giving him father's day gifts but Derek was firmly against that I let him in even just a little bit. He had answers to questions about my mom and I wanted them. Along the way, he became tolerable. I didn't trust him but I didn't hate him as much as I used to. I had focused all of my anger and hatred into the Alpha pack and Derek often expressed to me how anger was always blinding to threats.

"Please?" I offered up seeing Peter's face soften before looking back at Derek as he gave a heavy eye roll at my plea.

"Fair enough." Peter shrugged out of his coat and draped it on the back of the couch.

"Pull that chair around here, won't you? You'll need some room to flail." I looked over at Isaac who instantly questioned him after hearing the word flail.

"Maggie, hold his hand for a few moments." He waved his hand around in disgust as I walked over and reached for Isaac's hand after he sat in the chair.

"Maggie isn't helping you do this." Derek spoke up ready to get to his feet but Peter clicked his tongue against his teeth.

"She won't be. This will work better if he's relaxed. Maggie has a calming effect on him." I rubbed my thumb over the top of Isaac's hand and he blushed slightly apparently confirming Peter's statement.

"How do you know how to do this again?" Isaac questioned shifting to the side of his chair.

"It's an ancient ritual used mostly by alphas since it's a skill that requires a bit of practice. One slip and you could paralyze someone or kill them." I watched Peter move his claws behind Isaac's head and I tried to conceal my nerves so they wouldn't bleed into Isaac's.

"Is this going to hurt him?" I asked hopeful but earned a rather sarcastic smile.

"Well sweetheart I'm retrieving slivers of memories deep in his mind so it's not going to feel like a deep tissue massage." Peter went back to searching for the right spot.

"But it's safe? I mean you've done this before right?" I gave Isaac's hand a squeeze as he looked back at Peter.

"Don't you trust me?" Peter held his hands up, claws still extended and a questionable look on his face.

"No? Of course I don't trust you. Is that a serious question?" Isaac looked between the three of us before Peter pushed the back of his head with the palm of his hand so he would face forward.

"Isaac." I said his name attempting to get him to be reasonable but he had every right to be concerned. Just because I had learned to accept Peter for his flaws didn't mean everyone else had.

"We'll be right here. You don't have to worry. Trust me." Derek reassured Isaac who took another deep breath as I let go of his hand to walk over towards the table.

"And I promise to heal you up as much as I can afterwards." Isaac huffed out a breath before glancing between Derek and me.

"I hate to break it to you but you Hale's aren't so great at the whole comforting thing." Isaac barely got to finish his sentence when Peter punctured the back of his neck with his claws causing Isaac's entire body to seize up and his eyes to flash golden. I went to step towards them but Derek grabbed my hand holding me back.

Peter's eyes were an icy blue and his jaw dropped as he got sucked into whatever he was seeing inside Isaac's brain. Derek tensed next to me but didn't drop my hand. As Isaac started to fight Peter, I moved towards them again making Derek stand up concerned.

"Wait I see them!" Peter gritted his teeth, the sound making me grind my own together.

"What do you see?" Derek finally spoke but Peter was still attached to Isaac. When he finally pulled away, he stumbled into the table and Isaac slumped forward. I slide to my knees in front of him and place a careful hand on his cheek.

"Hey…hey you with me?" I asked seeing tears roll down his cheeks. His lip was trembling and I could smell the blood that leaked from the puncture wounds of his neck.

"You're okay. You're okay." I wiped his tears away and could hear how fast his heart was beating.

"What did you see?" Derek asked making Peter push off the table putting some distance between us.

"Uh…it was confusing." He shook his hands out and clenched them together in fists like whatever he pulled from Isaac had burned him.

"Take your time." I said looking away from Isaac and putting my hand on his neck to heal the punctures. He hissed at the contact but relax as I took the pain away.

"I-images…vague images…shapes." Peter shook his head like he was trying to make sense of what he saw.

"But you saw something?" Derek pressed.

"Isaac found them." He said in shock.

"Erica and Boyd?" Derek took a step towards Peter and he snapped.

"I don't know. I barely saw them!" He shook his head out again and I noticed Isaac's free hand shaking. I took ahold of it and he looked at me, eyes still shiny.

"It's okay. You're safe." I whispered squeezing his hand.

"But you did see them." Derek was becoming more and more impatient as Peter struggled to pull himself together.

"And worse..." He looked back at me and Derek's body straightened out.

"Deucalion." Derek slowly sat back down on the couch and looked over at Isaac and I.

"He was talking about time running out." Isaac looked over at Peter.

"What does it mean?" He whispered just barely.

"He's going to kill them." Derek's jaw tightened.

"No no he didn't say that. He made them a promise that by the full moon they'd be dead." I got to my feet slowly.

"The next full moon?" Derek asked.

"That can't be…that's-" Peter cut me off.

"Tomorrow night." He confirmed. I gripped my hair tightly knowing that our time was up.

"What do we do now?" Isaac asked looking at me before glancing over at Derek.

"You need to rest. You're still healing and the couch isn't working for you." I helped Isaac to his feet and let him lean on me as I escorted him up the stairs to my room.

"I should be out there helping you guys." Isaac complained.

"You are no good to us hurt. Just take a few hours to rest up. After what they put you through, the hospital and what Peter just did, your body needs a little rest." Isaac sat on the side of my bed rubbing the back of his neck.

"You know it's not your fault right? I know you guys like to take on the problems of the world and blame yourselves but I knew what I was walking into." I shoved Isaac back on the bed and pulled the quilt from the chair to put over him. He always laughed when I tried to cover him up. He often told me that I didn't need to be tucked in at his age but I did it anyway.

"You guys?" I cocked an eyebrow.

"Hale's…you have this guilt complex. Well except Peter. He kind of reminds me of that vampire with the shitty haircut from that movie you made me watch." Isaac pulled a face and I couldn't help but chuckle.

"First off, the movie is Lost Boys and second, that's called 80's hair. Kiefer Sutherland would not appreciate your snark." I tucked Isaac in and he grabbed my hand.

"Just be careful. Don't do anything stupid." Isaac wasn't trying to tell me what to do. His tone was more of a plea. I gave him a smile before walking towards the door. I shut the door and went down the spiraled stairs just in time to see Derek walking towards the door.

"Where are you going?" I asked watching him pocket his phone.

"Scott just called. He wants me to check out something that might be a possible lead to that girl that saved Isaac." Derek explained. I looked around the loft and noticed that Peter was nowhere to be found.

"I told him to leave. I wasn't going to leave him here with Isaac and I figured you'd want to go with me. If you want to tell me all the things I've done wrong in the last half hour, you'll have to do it in the car." Derek gestured to the door and I shook my head putting my hands up. I didn't want to argue with him. I wanted to get Erica and Boyd back and take this damn pack down.

"You're the alpha." I followed him out hearing his grunt as he closed the door behind us both. I remained quiet the entire drive to the school and carefully made my way through the hallways to avoid being seen. We were still fairly early but the last thing I needed was for people to see me wandering the halls with Derek when I hadn't even bothered to attend.

"Are you going to be okay to do this?" Derek asked me as we walked through the hallway.

"I just want to get Erica and Boyd back before it's too late." I breathed looking over at him. I could feel his eyes on me and that stupid look I hated. That one him and Isaac gave me any chance they got. I never thought in a million years that the two of them would actually be pushing me to talk to Scott and Stiles. A lot had changed in the four months that I've been training and search for Boyd and Erica. I knew why they thought I needed Scott and Stiles in my life but I couldn't let them see who I'd become. We walked into the classroom where Scott, Stiles, Lydia and Allison stood waiting for us.

"Maggie…Stiles said-." Lydia looked surprised to see me but I cut her off.

"All good things, I'm sure." I gave her a soft smile before taking a seat out of the way.

"What are we here for?" Derek interrupted probably feeling how tense I'd become the moment I walked into the room. Stiles kept his mouth shut but his eyes on me. I didn't meet his gaze though. It was hard enough being in the same room with him. Allison and Lydia stepped forward and showed Derek bruising on their arms. There was a distinct outline of strong fingers and I knew Braeden was capable of snapping their arms. She was definitely trying to send a message.

"I don't see anything." Derek dismissed it almost immediately.

"Look again." Scott implored.

"How's a bruise going to tell me where Erica and Boyd are?" Derek crossed his arms over his chest and took a step away from Allison and Lydia.

"It's the same on both sides, exactly the same." Scott pointed out as I looked at the shapes.

"It's nothing." Derek kept his eyes narrowed on Allison. We'd talked quite a bit in the beginning of my training about Allison and how he didn't want me going overboard like she had. From where I stood, I didn't think she had. She'd hurt us, hurt the pack but she'd also lost her mother suddenly. No matter how old you are, losing your mother kills a part of you. Sometimes things happen in our lives that make us sink into the darkness. I understood her. I couldn't hold that grudge but Derek did a good job for the both of us.

"Pareidolia, seeing patterns that aren't there." Lydia thinned her lips at the boys making me shake my head and hide a smile behind my hair.

"It's a subset of apophenia." She added. Derek looked over at Scott ready to throttle him.

"Let's go." He gestured to me.

"They're just trying to help." Scott defended making Derek's eyebrows go up.

"These two? This one used me to resurrect my psychotic uncle, thanks by the way." Derek faked a smile but Lydia remained unaffected by his statement.

"And this one shot about thirty arrows into me and my pack." Derek pointed at Allison with such fury. It was like words were his only weapon.

"Come on now, no one died. There may have been a little maiming…some mangling but no death. That's what I call an important distinction." Stiles finally spoke up to lighten the mood

"Maggie was tortured in her basement." Derek gritted his teeth making Stiles stiffen.

"Derek!" I said his name simply making him take a deep breath through his nose to calm himself.

"My mother died." Allison whispered making Derek look at her.

"Your families little honor code killed your mother, not me." Derek defended.

"That girl was looking for Scott. I'm here to help him, not you." She didn't back down when it came to Derek and I admired that.

"You want to help? Find something real." Derek looked over at me and I got up.

"That's it? You're just going to leave?" Stiles asked baffled. I ignored him but Scott turned towards me, putting himself between Derek and I.

"Maybe you could grab their arms and try the latch thing you do." Scott asked hopeful but Derek interrupted.

"I'm telling you it's nothing. She shouldn't waste her strength on a stupid hunch." I kept my eyes on Allison, clearly making her slightly uncomfortable.

"How are you doing?" I asked. I knew there were all confused by my random question, especially Allison considering how we left things but I was genuinely curious. I know how it felt to have your mother ripped away from you so violently and suddenly.

"I'm alright. I'm as good as I can be I guess." Allison answered rubbing her bruised arm absently and trying not to look at Derek over my shoulder.

"Seriously? I thought we were trying to find missing people and you guys want to start with pleasantries?" Stiles ruined the casual encounter with his angst but Lydia rolled her eyes hard enough to actually make a noise.

"How about toning down the hostility a bit considering we've got one grumpy Hale already. Enjoy that we don't have two." Lydia looked at Stiles who threw his arms out.

"How are you doing?" Allison asked but I didn't know what to say. Stiles snort of laughter made me sigh.

"She's doing great wrapped up in her lies and secrets while the rest of us are left twisting in the wind." Stiles smiled resting his elbows on his knees.

"Can you do the world a public service and shut the hell up please?" Derek finally got tired of Stiles and moved away from the door. Stiles looked to Scott for backup but Scott shrugged.

"He said please." I ignored the three of them and stood in front of Lydia and Allison.

"Can I see the bruises?" I asked making them both extend their arms.

"Maggie." Derek said my name as if it would stop me but I ignored him. I hovered my hands above the bruises, trying to line up my fingers with the darkened skin. I took one long deep breath before latching onto their arms and keeping my eyes closed. I could see Braeden dragging Isaac along a marbled floor, it was fancy. The door she pulled him out of was glass but had some sort of brown papering over it. making it seem like whatever building they were in was clearly no longer being used. She had pulled him across wet pavement and somehow managed to jolt him back to life. I saw her wreck on the bike and be wheeled into the hospital. I saw her knock one of the guards out and steal clothes from the locker room before heading to the school. I felt her anxiety when she asked for Scott and the moment she grabbed Lydia and Allison, I pulled out of the latch.

"What is it? What did you see?" I had fallen against Scott's chest and pushed away instantly shaking my head to collect myself.

"We need to call Deaton. He can help us figure out where they are." I looked over at Derek.

"Deaton? What does he have to do with any of…" Scott started to ask but his face fell once he connected the dots.

"Deaton's known this whole time hasn't he? He's known where you've been and what you've been up against." Scott swallowed a lump in his throat before looking down at his feet.

"Scott, maybe when all of this is over I can explain it to you but right now…right now we've got to find Erica and Boyd before it's too late." I didn't know what to say to him.

"Wait, what did you see?" Allison followed me towards the door but Derek put his hand on my back.

"We can handle it from here." He started to tug on my shirt knowing not to touch my skin after a latch.

"Relax, she's on our side now. She's just trying to help. We're all just trying to help." Scott glanced over at me with a saddened expression of disappointment.

"Don't act like we're the only ones keeping secrets Scott. How about you tell her what her mother was really doing that night?" Derek whispered out of earshot from the rest of them. I put a hand on his chest and forced him towards the door. I didn't look back. I was too focused on what needed to be done.

"We need to get Isaac to the clinic and have him go into the ice bath. I could almost make out where they were but if we get into Isaac's subconscious, we can definitely get enough of the surroundings to pinpoint their location." I said as we walked down the hallway.

"I'll get Isaac. You're staying here." I stopped dead looking at Derek.

"What? Why the hell would I stay here?" I questioned squinting at him.

"We had an agreement. I promised Nathan you'd be back in school and he let you stay with me this summer, no questions asked. You've already missed the first day and when he gets back I want you to have already gotten back into the groove of things." I laughed at Derek.

"You honestly think I'm going to sit through English class when we literally have hours before Erica and Boyd get killed? No Derek. Get serious-" He held firm staring at me.

"I'm pulling rank on this. Isaac is still healing from earlier. We can meet after school at the clinic. Until then you'll be here signing in and getting your class schedule." I shook my head at Derek wanting to fight him but he squeezed my shoulder giving me a nod that I'm sure was meant to be reassuring but only served to piss me off even more.

"Have a good first day." Derek smirked before walking out of the doors. I gripped the handle tightly wanting to run after him. School was the last place I wanted to be and Derek knew that. I looked back at the classroom I knew the boys were in and decided that if I was going to have to play along with Derek, I would continue to keep the boys at arm's length.

**[Stiles POV]**

I walked with Scott out of the classroom feeling even more uncomfortable than I did before. Maggie was completely freezing me out, not even bothering to look at me but could somehow find it in herself to ask Allison how she was? It didn't make sense to me. What the hell did I do that was so horrible she could block me out?

"I can't believe Deaton has known this whole time. Why wouldn't he tell me?" Scott asked as the first bell rang.

"You can ask him later. The better question is what would an alpha pack want with Erica and Boyd?" I tried to shake Maggie from my thoughts and focus on the problem at hand. Maybe if we figure all of this out, I'll get the answers I really want.

"I'm not sure it's them they want." Scott offered.

"So what they want Derek? They want to recruit alphas?" I shook my head at the ridiculous notion but noticed Scott had stopped and turned completely around, no longer listening to me.

"Scott? Hey…you coming?" I shook Scott out of whatever trance he was in so we could continue on to Business Strategies with Coach which I regretted signing up for instead of basically any other elective on the list.

"The stock market is based on two principles, what are they?" Coach slammed the book down on his desk, kicking off the class. I saw Scott's hand go up but didn't pay much attention to it.

"Yes McCall you can go to the bathroom." Coach waved him off as I tapped my pencil on my notebook. The moment we started getting pieces of Maggie's story, I started writing down every detail, everything she mentioned right down to the people who knew she hadn't left or had some sort of contact with. Coach's laugh pulled me out of my writing.

"Oh you're serious?" He was still talking to Scott.

"Yeah it's risk and reward." Coach's face lit up with excitement. Scott had really busted his ass to get ahead of his studies. I was proud of him and I knew he was proud of himself. It was a simple win for him to be able to exercise his new academic muscle in class though.

"Wow! Who are you and what have you done to McCall? Don't answer that! I like you better! I like you better!" Coach slapped Scott on the shoulder making him smile a goofy proud smile at him.

"Does anybody have a quarter?" Coach asked taking a step back.

"Yeah Coach." I dug into my pocket and grabbed the quarter I had but when I pulled my hand out, the condom I had from the night before was still in my pocket and decided to come tumbling out onto the floor. I felt my entire body go into shocked lava mode. My skin felt like it went instantly 10 shades of crimson and my heart was beating loud enough to probably echo in Scott's head as the foil wrapped package sat on the floor. Chuckles and murmurs filled the room when Coach moved to pick it up and hand it to me.

"Stilinski…I think you dropped this." Coach held out the condom to me and I tried to form some sort of rebuttal but all I managed to do was make a noise.

"Congratulations." He muttered under his breath before walking away from me.

"I'm going to kill Maggie for not telling me." Danny had turned around in his chair and was looking at me.

"Wh-no it's not. This is…you think...me and Mag-" Coach cut me off before I could actually spit out a proper response.

"What the hell was that?" Scott mouthed at me with the Coach's back turned.

"I DON'T KNOW!" I mouthed back covering my face and slinking down in my chair.

"Risk and reward, put the quarter in the mug, win the reward. Now watch Coach." Coach put the mug on the floor and took a few steps back and kneeling to the floor. He blew on the quarter before bouncing it perfectly and landing it in the cup. We all clapped for him at the pinpoint accuracy of the bounce.

"That's how you do it. Danny, risk/reward?" Coach held the quarter out to Danny.

"What's the reward?" Danny questioned.

"If you make it then you don't have to take the pop quiz tomorrow." Coach shrugged making me shake my head. Note to self: there's a pop quiz tomorrow.

"Coach, it's not a pop quiz if you tell us about it." Danny lowered his voice as if that would help somehow keep the secret.

"You know Danny, I expect more from you at this point." He snatched the quarter out of Danny's hand and moved back towards us.

"McCall, risk/reward. The risk, if you don't put that quarter in that mug, you have to take the pop…the quiz and you have to write an essay. Risk, reward, or no work at all. Or choose not to play." Scott flipped the quarter around in his fingers.

"But isn't this just a game of chance?" He questioned. He made a valid point.

"No you know your abilities, your coordination, your focus and past experience. All those are factors affecting the outcome. So what's it going to be McCall. More work? No work or choose not to play." Coach's words were oddly enough washing around in Scott's head for far too long and I could tell he wasn't thinking about tossing a pop quiz anymore. Despite Maggie going missing and dealing with the aftermath of all that, summer had been relatively quiet. An alpha pack and sudden bombshells were weighing twice as heavy now that we'd been out of the game for a few months. I could tell Scott was torn. I was torn too but we couldn't just throw away all the progress we'd made just because it was sitting on our shoulders now.

Scott put the quarter down with a frown and Coach stood up straight.

"No play, alright. Who's next? Who wants to play?" I drummed my hands on my book and got out of my seat.

"Alright! There's a gambling man! Come on! Step up! Go Stilinski!" I walked up and prayed I had a lucky bone in my body so I could avoid any extra work.

"Stiles." I heard my name as I tried to line up the shot.

"Yeah Coach I got this." I said unknowingly.

"Stiles." I heard my name again and looked up to see my dad standing at the door. He had his deputy with him and I knew he was here on business.

"I'm going to need to borrow him." He looked over at the Coach and I walked towards the door. Dad put his hand on my back and escorted me out into the hallway, shutting the door behind me.

"When was the last time you saw Heather?" Dad asked walking us down the hallway a bit.

"Last night at her birthday party." I said looking over at his deputy and then back him. I wasn't sure what was going on but he was on edge.

"What time would you say you last saw her at the party?" Dad was trying to get specifics.

"I don't know, maybe 10:30ish. We were hanging out and I went upstairs to use the bathroom. When I came back I couldn't find her. I just figured she'd hooked up with her other friends. Has no one really seen her since last night?" I asked getting instantly anxious.

"We put out an APB but all her friends say you were the last person who saw her. They said there was an argument with you and someone else and they didn't see her after that." Dad explained.

"I wasn't arguing with Heather, I was arguing with Maggie." Dad's eyebrows went up.

"Maggie? Maggie was at the party?" Dad questioned confused. I hadn't bothered to talk to him about her being back so I know this was a huge surprise for him.

"Dad can we please focus here?" I tried to get him to remember why he was here. If Heather was actually missing then we needed to find her as soon as possible.

"Well if you were talking with Maggie at this party than she's your alibi. I think talking to her is necessary." Dad pointed out.

"She wasn't there that long. We argued, she walked outside to talk to Scott and when I looked for Heather she was gone." I explained further.

"Did anyone see you after that?" Dad pressed.

"I heard Maggie and Scott talking and just went outside. Trust me, I want to find Heather just as much as anyone. You know how important she is to me." I reminded my dad seeing him give me a sympathetic frown before patting me on the shoulder.

"I'm going to keep you in the loop but I want you to be careful. Call me if you can remember anything else or if you hear from her." Dad squeezed my shoulder and I gave him a nod. I waited for my dad to walk away before letting out a sigh and checking my phone. I tried Heather's number while I was in the hallway and she didn't answer. I didn't think she would but it was worth a shot. I looked up and saw someone sitting in front of the office. I knew she probably heard the conversation with my dad so there was no point in ignoring her.

"Hey, what are you still doing here?" I asked surprised to see that she actually stuck around.

"I go to school here." She mumbled not bothering to look up at me.

"I just figured you were going to take off with Derek." I rubbed the back of my neck feeling the vibe that she'd rather be on fire than sit here and talk to me. When she didn't respond I knew she wanted me to walk away.

"You didn't have to do that for me. I wouldn't have told him anything anyway." I knew she was referring to the conversation I had with my dad. I shoved my hands in my pockets and shrugged.

"Yeah well I figured if I got you out of that, you'd sort of owe me a favor." I offered seeing her go back to her stone face.

"I know you're doing the whole freeze out thing and that's fine but I need-" I stopped talking when two girls passed by us in the hallway. I waited long enough for them to be out of earshot before clearing my throat.

"Heather is apparently missing. After our fight, I couldn't find her." I explained. Maggie cut her eyes at me looking completely bored with what I was saying.

"I don't see how any of that is my concern." She said unemotional.

"I know you don't care okay? I just...She's a good person. I know if there's anyone who can find her, it's you." I rubbed my nose trying to keep myself from getting worked up over her attitude. I honestly don't know where this hostility was coming from.

"You want me to find your girlfriend?" The question left her mouth with such bitter discontent, it landed heavily on my chest.

"I want you to find my friend. I don't have a girlfriend. Apparently I've never even been close. Not that it matters." She closed her eyes briefly, biting her lip and looking up at me. I stared down at her desperate to see the girl that kissed me in her room all those months ago but the door to the office opened.

"Ms. Stevens, you're up." The Principal called Maggie into the office and she stood up, walking around me to go into the office without even a second glance. I walked back to class and plopped down in my seat. Scott looked over at me and I knew by the expression on his face that he'd listened to the conversation Maggie and I had. We waited until after class to even broach the subject.

"So you think they took Heather to turn her?" Scott asked confused by one of my many theories.

"Derek said it's easier to turn teenagers." I remembered from what seemed like forever ago when we first got into this mess of him biting every teenager that could have an after school special.

"Yeah but what would a pack of alphas need with a beta?" Scott made sense but I was in the midst of a freak out.

"Scott, I don't know okay? Regular logic has left me currently. I just need to find her. You know how much she helped me through this summer. She's the only other girl that I've known as long as Maggie and if she isn't going to help me find her than we need to figure out how to find her and fast." Scott could probably tell that I was on edge without the speech but I felt like I needed to get it all out. I had all this repressed anxiety from early that just came flooding out of my mouth.

"If we want to get to the alphas then we need Isaac to remember." Scott offered trying to help calm me down.

"How? I mean if Derek and Maggie couldn't do it then how are we supposed to do it? I'm all for beating it out of him but something tells me Maggie would object to that." Scott stopped in his tracks.

"There is one person who could help and I'm sure Maggie and Derek are already a step ahead of us." Scott looked at me and I knew immediately who he was talking about.

 _Deaton_.


	3. Make It To Me

**[Derek's POV]**

I wasn't surprised to see Scott and Stiles at the clinic when Isaac and I arrived. Isaac pinched the bridge of his nose thinking the exact same thing I was thinking apparently.

"Maggie is not going to be happy about this." He sighed taking his seat belt off and opening his door. We grabbed the ice Deaton had requested we bring before walking into the clinic to see a very disgruntled Scott with his arms crossed over his chest.

"I'm going to assume you've caught him up on the summer with Maggie." I placed the ice down on the table but kept my eyes on Deaton.

"You should have told me. Deaton says this is really dangerous." Scott stepped towards me and I tossed some of the ice at him to catch.

"We weighed the risks and you know as well as I do that once Maggie gets her head set on something, there's no stopping her." I explained watching Scott's eyes go wide.

"I was talking about letting Isaac do this. Maggie's done this!?" I glanced over at Deaton who shook his head, not even bothering to look at me so I'd know how much of an idiot I was but before I could say anything else like clockwork, the backdoor to the clinic opened and Maggie walked in.

"If you're going to talk about me, at least do it out of earshot." She tossed her bag on the floor and glared at me.

"What are they doing here?" She gritted out turning her back to them as if they couldn't hear her.

"Scott came to me and I think he should stay. He can help, they both can." I held my hands up as Deaton explained that he was the one to bring Scott and Stiles to the clinic.

"You didn't need help when I went under, why would we need extra hands now?" She questioned him.

"How many times have you done this?" Stiles finally spoke and the room seemed to stop as he addressed Maggie.

"Too many, far too many." Deaton answered when she didn't.

"Help me get the ice in here." I walked over to Stiles and gave his shoulder a pat feeling for him sadly enough. Maggie had completely shut him down on all fronts. I knew why she'd done it but that didn't mean I agreed with her methods. Stiles seemed surprised by the gestured but helped Scott and I fill the tub with ice.

"Obviously it's not going to be particularly comfortable." Deaton informed Isaac.

"You said it felt like being in a bathtub of flaming needles." Isaac looked over at Maggie who shrugged.

"Actually you get pretty numb to it quickly. You'll just have to withstand the first few minutes of it." Maggie tried to put Isaac at ease but we both knew how hard coming out of these was for her.

"If we can slow your heart rate down enough, you'll slip into a trans-like state." Deaton explained further as Isaac chewed on his thumbnail.

"So basically it's like being hypnotized?" Isaac walked towards us as we finished with all the ice.

"Exactly! You'll be half transformed and it'll let us access your subconscious mind." Deaton had Maggie on his right as Isaac skimmed his hand over the ice in the metal basin. He retracted his hand quickly feeling the burn of cold.

"How slow does his heart rate have to be?" Scott asked making Deaton look over at me for some reason.

"Very slow." He still kept his gaze on me.

"How slow is very slow?" I pressed.

"Nearly dead." Maggie sighed growing impatient.

"You've been doing this for months and didn't think I should know that she's been walking the death line? I knew there were risks but-" Maggie cut me off.

"It was the only way we could track them. We could stand here and talk about it or we can get to it." Maggie spat. The snap of a glove from behind me drew all of our attention to Stiles as he played with the gloves on the medical table.

"What?" Stiles questioned as if he needed us to comment on his stupidity.

"Yes I can see now how including them is so helpful." Maggie rolled her eyes making Stiles tear the glove off and mumble a preschool insult under his breath.

"Look if it feels too risky, you don't have to do this." I turned my attention back to Isaac who's heartbeat had picked up considerably since we'd gotten here. He stared down at the icy water and chewed on his lip.

"This week has gotten progressively sucky." Isaac rubbed at the back of his neck where the marks of Peter's attempt to retrieve information had healed.

"Derek's right, If you don't want to do this, you don't have to." Scott reached out to Isaac but retracted his hand as if he thought that would somehow be awkward or disrespectful.

"Well you've managed to skirt death a few times so I guess let's just hold out for that." Stiles clapped his hands together trying to lighten the mood but the moment Maggie gripped Isaac's arm, his face fell.

"Hey, wherever you go when you're in there, you've got to remember that they can't hurt you. It looks real and it's scary as hell but you're safe." She handled Isaac carefully but he clicked his tongue to his teeth, shaking his head.

"Come on, I've seen you after you've been in one of these Maggie. You always come out of it wrecked." Stiles and Scott exchanged curious looks and I didn't blame them. Maggie had explained the procedure like being knocked unconscious, not being in a coma. I felt a bit betrayed that Deaton wouldn't tell me just how close to losing Maggie it would be but I couldn't dwell on that now.

"Yeah but I always had you and Derek to straighten me out. I'm not leaving you. I promised you I wouldn't let us get separated again and I meant it." She gave his hand a squeeze and he nodded at her.

"Alright." The skin to skin contact had calmed Isaac. I knew what Maggie was doing and I knew it probably wasn't right but if Isaac didn't go under, I knew Maggie would.

"Are you sure?" I asked just to double check and Isaac pulled his shirt over his head.

"Let's do this." He let out some quick breaths trying not to psych himself out but Stiles groan made him look up.

"You really have to take your shirt off for this?" Stiles complained but we ignored him. Isaac kicked his shoes and socks off and Maggie put her hand over his heart.

"Just remember that no matter what you see, you are safe. Just take some deep breaths okay? I'm right here." Isaac nodded at her as he stepped into the ice bath with no hesitation and sat down trying to breathe through the pain.

"On three." Maggie said looking at both Scott and I as we gripped Isaac's shoulders.

"One...two...three!" Maggie counted us down and Isaac took one last breath out as we shoved him beneath the water. It wasn't long before he started to thrash against us to try and catch his breath. He broke free of our hold and emerged with his fangs out and eyes glowing golden.

"Put him back under." Deaton said above Isaac's growl. I looked over at Maggie as she stood concerned. Stiles offered us a hand by holding down his legs.

"Hold him!" Deaton looked relax but annoyed at our inability to hold him down. I wasn't trying to hurt him though.

"We're trying!" I shouted at Deaton as he offered no help. He gave Maggie a look and she stepped to the foot of the tub putting her hand out above him and closing her eyes. Suddenly Isaac was wrenched out of our grip and held to the bottom of the tub.

"It's okay Isaac. It's okay." She gritted out as she held Isaac under with some sort of invisible force. Isaac stopped thrashing and we slowly lifted our hands out of the icy water. Deaton finally stepped towards the tub and held his finger up.

"Now remember, only I talk to him. Too many voices will confuse him and draw him out." Deaton looked over at me before giving Maggie a nod. She put her hand down and let Isaac rise above the water, eyes closed taking in a breath.

"Isaac, can you hear me?" Deaton's voice was soft as Isaac's lips shivered.

"Y-yes. I can hear you." He responded.

"This is Dr. Deaton, I'd like to ask you a few questions if that's alright." I glanced over at Maggie who had her arms crossed over her chest and her hand resting in front of her mouth clearly unnerved by seeing Isaac in this position.

"Yes." He replied simply.

"I want to ask you a few questions about the night you found Erica and Boyd. I want you to remember it for me in as vivid detail as possible, like you're actually there again." Lightening flashed outside the windows of the clinic and thunder made Stiles heart jump.

"No no I don't wanna do that. I don't wanna do that! Please don't make me do that." Scott and I put our hands back in the water to try and keep Isaac in the water and Deaton waved his hand at Maggie who stepped forward.

"Just relax, they're just memories Isaac, memories can't hurt you." Deaton explained.

"No no I don't want to do that." Isaac was pleading.

"Isaac, I'm with you. I'm not going anywhere. Just stay with me." Maggie's voice was tender as she put her hand in the water and grazed his chest.

"Maggie?" Isaac seemed to relax slightly upon hearing her voice.

"Yes it's me. I've got you." She continued to stroke his chest and he calmed.

"Alright Isaac, let's go back to the night you found Erica and Boyd. Can you tell me what you see?" Deaton resumed talking as Maggie continued her strokes.

"Is there some kind of building or maybe a house?" We all kept our eyes on Isaac as his brows furrowed.

"It's not a house. It's stone...like marble." Maggie's eyes met mine shocked that we'd gotten any information out of Isaac.

"That's perfect. Can you give me any other descriptors?" Deaton pressed on as Isaac's bottom lip turned purple.

"It's dusty and empty." Isaac breathed.

"Like an abandoned building?" Deaton interrupted but before Isaac could answer the lights started to flicker.

"He's in." Maggie said standing.

"Someone's...someone's here." Isaac grabbed a hold of Scott's arm and froze.

"Isaac...Isaac you have to relax." Deaton replaced Maggie's hand on his chest to try and calm him.

"No they'll see me! They'll see us! Maggie! Maggie where are you!?" Maggie knew I was staring at her but she didn't look up. I knew she felt ashamed for leaving Isaac behind that night. We came damn close to losing him.

"They're just memories Isaac, they can't hurt you. Just relax...relax Isaac." Deaton repeated making Isaac loosen his grip on Scott.

"Now tell us what you see...tell us everything." Isaac's eyes flickered beneath his eyelids quickly like he was trying to keep up with the images in his head.

"It's Boyd...he's talking about being out of control on the full moon. He's scared." Isaac's eyes finally opened to stare up at us but they were empty. They may have been open but he wasn't seeing us.

"Is he talking to Erica?" Deaton questioned.

"I think so. I don't know. I can't see them. I can't see either of them." Isaac's teeth chattered.

"Do you hear anything else?" Deaton pressed.

"They're worried, worried about what they'll do during the full moon. They're worried that they're going to hurt each other." I let out a sigh and looked over at Scott.

"If they're locked in there together on the full moon, they'll tear each other apart." Maggie started to pace.

"Isaac, we need to find them right now. Can you see them? Do you know what kind of room they're in? Is there any kind of marker or sign, number on a door?" Deaton knew time was running out and used a more stern tone when speaking but Isaac's body shot up in the water making Stiles jump back.

"They're here...they're here! They're here! Maggie! Maggie don't! Don't go!" Isaac's voice strained and Maggie started to get upset.

"It's alright-" Isaac cut Deaton off with his panic.

"THEY'VE FOUND ME! MAGGIE! MAGGIE!" I couldn't take the waiting anymore.

"This isn't working! Isaac, where are you!?" I yelled disregarding Deaton's warning.

"IT'S TOO DARK! I CAN'T SEE ANYTHING! MAGGIE WHERE ARE YOU!? Isaac kept screaming until his voice was hoarse.

"Derek you're going to confuse him!" Deaton tried to pull on my shoulder but I shrugged him off.

"WHERE ARE YOU!? TELL ME WHERE YOU ARE?!" I shouted over him as he started to thrash.

"His heart rate will go too high and he'll go into shock!" Deaton explained.

"Derek let him go!" Scott finally stepped back up to the tub but I didn't care.

"ISAAC TELL ME WHAT YOU SEE!" I demanded.

"IT'S A VAULT! IT'S A BANK VAULT!" I stepped back after getting the answer we needed.

"SHE'S GOT ME! KALI'S GOT ME! MAGGIE RUN! GET OUT OF HERE!" Maggie pushed past Deaton to put her hand on Isaac to snap him out of it.

"Isaac! I'm right here. Calm down! You've got to-" Isaac started to whimper.

"Oh God there's a body…there's a body in this room...they killed her...they killed Erica!" I felt my heart stutter as Maggie froze on the floor next to the tub.

"What? No...that can't...that can't be true." She got up and started to back away from Isaac when he finally shot up again only this time he was conscious.

"I know the name! I remembered the name." Isaac pushed himself up and Scott and I helped him out of what was left of the ice bath into dry towels.

"It was um…Beacon Hills First National Bank…it's an abandoned bank and they're keeping them locked in the vault." Isaac looked at all of us, clearly unaware of what he'd said before snapping out of it.

"Maggie?" Isaac saw Maggie had backed away from him trying to wrap her head around what she heard.

"You don't remember what you said before you came out of it, do you?" Stiles asked making Isaac shake his head.

"You said there was a body in the room with you when they captured you." Stiles said but Isaac shook his head confused.

"What body?" He asked.

"Erica's…you said they killed Erica." Maggie started to wring her hands out like she did whenever the pains started to get too much to handle.

"She's not dead." I said trying to reel Maggie in a bit. She walked over and held up the bag of dry clothes to Isaac who took them into the bathroom and changed before exiting and sitting down on the metal table near the wall. I think even he was surprised by what he said.

"Derek, we all heard what he said. It doesn't really leave a whole lot of room for interpretation." Stiles dismissed.

"Then who else would be in the vault with Boyd?" I questioned.

"Someone else obviously." Stiles waved his hand around as he sat down next to Isaac, who kept glancing over at Maggie.

"Maybe it was the girl that saved you? The girl on the motorcycle?" Scott pitched.

"No she wasn't like us. Whoever was in the vault with Boyd was." Isaac said as Stiles looked back to me.

"What if that's how Erica died? Maybe they pit them against each other on the full moons to see who survives? It's like Werewolf Thunderdome!" Stiles shook his head.

"I should have felt it." Maggie finally spoke making us all look at her. She was rubbing the necklace that her mother had given her that stayed hung around her neck and staring at the ground.

"If they killed her, I would have felt it right? I made the charms myself. Erica was wearing it that night." Maggie wasn't talking to anyone in particular. She was just letting her thoughts out of her mouth without thinking.

"What night? What are you talking about?" Scott started walking towards her and just like that she seemed to snap out of her thoughts.

"I've got to go. I've got to get to her." Maggie grabbed her jacket from the floor and Stiles jumped up when she picked her bag up that he was sitting on.

"Just wait a second. We need a plan." I said but she didn't stop.

"Maggie, you need to be smart about this. You can't go storming in there. You've tried already and failed. The last time you were almost killed." Deaton reminded her but she shook her head.

"I don't care. I just…I don't care." Maggie turned to leave but I grabbed her arm.

"Hey! I care! I care a lot actually." She spun around and shoved me backwards catching me off guard as I slipped on some of the ice on the floor. I felt Stiles hand catch my back in surprise.

"Oh you care now? You didn't care that Isaac could have gone into shock a few minutes ago." Maggie shook her hands out.

"Maggie, it's okay." Isaac tried to help but she shook her head.

"NO IT'S NOT! IT'S NOT OKAY! NOTHING IS OKAY!" She shouted making some of the glass on the table shatter. Her emotions were getting the better of her and that always made her magic do strange things. Scott and Stiles hadn't seen that yet judging by the way their heartbeats sped up.

"I'm tired of this! I'm tired of the waiting and not knowing! You know what they'll do to them. You know it's…you know it's my fault. I shouldn't have left that night. I should have fought harder! I shouldn't have let them get hurt! I should have s-stayed." Maggie's face had scrunched in pain and I moved towards her.

"Maggie…" She shook her head frantically now fighting the pain that was taking over in her. I'd seen this face a few times during the summer, smelt the pain come off of her in waves and it was never pleasant.

"Don't! Don't touch me!" She put her hands out.

"What's happening? Are you alright?" Scott moved around the tub next to me and Maggie started to whine.

"I can't…I can't-" Maggie's knees buckled and she fell into me, startling Scott and Stiles.

"Did you take your injection today?" I asked but she started to groan as the pain took over. Deaton rushed to his office and Stiles fell to his knees next to us.

"What's happening to her?" He asked hands hovering too afraid to touch her while she thrashed in agony.

"Don't touch her! Don't touch her! It'll make it worse." I warned as she started to seize against me, hands flexing into fists and shaking. The soles of her shoes squeaked as she pushed down on the wet floor trying to ease the pain in anyway that she could. Deaton ran out with a syringe in his hands gesturing me to grab her arm so he could inject her. She fought to keep her arm still but I held her tightly so he could hit a vein. Her body started to relax and she passed out cold in my arms.

**[Scott's POV]**

I wasn't the only one completely baffled by what had just happened after Isaac had finally given us the location of Erica and Boyd. Maggie's whole body shut down for some reason and everyone seemed to know why except Stiles and I. Derek had loaded her and Isaac into his car before taking off but Stiles and I followed him. When he pulled up to a tall warehouse looking building, we jumped out just to received a heavy sigh.

"She's going to be pissed that you followed me. I can assure you that she's fine." Derek said opening the passenger door.

"Yeah well forgive us for having our doubts considering you've been letting her repeatedly venture into limbo for the last few months." Stiles spoke up.

"You aren't going to like put them out of their misery are you? I mean where the hell are we?" I asked looking around. The area was pretty scarce and creepy but I guess it had it's qualities.

"This is where we live. I'll answer your questions another time. I have to get them both inside-" Isaac started to fall out of the back door and I quickly grabbed his arm. Derek slung his arm over his shoulder and I did the same.

"Stiles can you..." I turned around to see Stiles had already scooped up Maggie in his arms and was carrying her bridal style behind us. We got into a metal elevator and rode in silence to the top of the building before the doors opened and we walked up a few steps to a heavy sliding door. The place was dark with minimal furniture but that didn't surprise me. Derek led me to the right where there was a single bed behind the brick wall. I tried to slowly put Isaac down before looking around but Stiles stood holding Maggie, unsure of where to put her. He went towards the couch but Derek stopped him.

"She has a room." Derek took her from Stiles and walked up a spiral staircase. Stiles and I looked around while he put Maggie in her bed.

"Yeah this doesn't look like a crack den from Gotham City at all." Stiles touched a piece of the brick wall that had been broken through. There was quite a few smells covering the loft but it was heavy of Maggie, Derek and Isaac. They'd set up shop here pretty early on it seemed and had been living together pretty steadily. It was dark with a few spurts of light and colorful things which seemed scattered like maybe they might have been placed to make the place more homely.

"Where does Nathan fit into all of this?" I asked confused.

"I don't know but you do realize this isn't completely out of reach of us right? She literally was hiding in plain sight for months." Stiles pointed out.

"Trust me, it wasn't easy." Derek started down the steps.

"So she's a werewitch ninja that has Bruce Banner black outs?" Stiles asked referring to what had happened earlier.

"It's been a long night, maybe-" I stepped forward cutting Derek off.

"No Derek. You aren't blowing us off again. A lot has happened and we deserve some answers, starting with what the hell happened to Maggie back there?" I demanded sitting down on his couch. Stiles watched me and decided to sit down on the arm of the couch waiting for Derek to start talking. He paced for a moment before rubbing the back of his neck.

"It's the Gerard thing, isn't it?" Stiles spoke before Derek who gave him a nod.

"It's the long term effects of the poison he used on her. Because it healed into her bones, she gets this crippling pain if she doesn't take the medication Deaton gave her. It's like fibromyalgia that runs deep into the bones instead of just the muscles and soft tissue." Derek explained but I had no idea what fibromyalgia actually was.

"It's like arthritis amplified to the 100th degree." Stiles must have seen my confusion and explained it further.

"Does she have the same symptoms of fibromyalgia? Does she sleep?" Stiles crossed his arms over his chest.

"Not well. She has nightmares sometimes but she takes something for that too." I remembered the episode she had that night when Isaac and I stayed with her. It was terrifying.

"How did she get this bad? I mean is all of this because of Gerard-" I started to ask but Derek shook his head.

"A lot has happened since she took off. This pack isn't like any other. They're ruthless and will show no mercy if they get their hands on you. Maggie found that out the hard way." Derek looked down at his hands clasped together.

"Do you think Erica is really dead?" I asked making him look up at me.

"I won't believe it until I see it for myself which is why I need your help." Stiles snorted.

"Now you want our help? After everything, we are suddenly of use for you?" Stiles got up abruptly.

"I'm not the one who pushed you both out. That was Maggie's decision." Derek defended.

"We don't have time for this. We need to get to Erica and Boyd before it's too late." I stood up and looked between them. Stiles took a deep breath and rubbed his temples.

"I can do some research on the bank. It shouldn't take me too long to find a way in." Stiles shrugged.

"How long?" Derek pushes making Stiles roll his eyes.

"It's the internet Derek, it shouldn't take too long. We'll call you when we find it." Stiles walked towards the door.

"I'll meet you down there in a second." I gestured for Stiles to go ahead and go. He didn't hesitate. I turned back to Derek and he looked worried.

"You know if you want our help the secrets have to stop. All of this hiding and lying, it's done. If this pack is as dangerous as you say then I need the truth. I'm not risking anyone else getting hurt." I said firmly earning a nod from Derek.

"Okay." Derek stood with his hands in his pockets as I walked towards the door.

"For what it's worth, I don't think you should keep letting her push you away." Derek said as I reached the door. I turned around and looked at him sincerely.

"Maggie couldn't shake me even if she really wanted to. Thanks for taking care of her." I pulled the heavy door shut behind myself and hopped into the jeep as Stiles was typing away on his phone. He had found some information about the bank being shut down after it was broken into a few years back. He went to work the moment we got to his house and I tried to help as much as I could, reading over print outs of the bank robbery but most of it was news related.

"I guess we might have overestimated how effective the internet search would be." I said rubbing my tired eyes.

"I'll never admit that to Derek so you just keep that thought to yourself." Stiles continued reading.

"Are you okay?" I asked out of the blue making him look up at me from the bed.

"Well I'm tired and my head hurts but other than that..." Stiles knew what I was asking. He let out a heavy sigh and tossed the paper he'd read at least 4 times.

"It's just been a crazy day. First Heather goes missing and now we find out that Maggie's apparently suffering from debilitating pain because of what happened with Gerard. It doesn't help that she's still acting like I don't exist." Stiles shook his head exhausted.

"We'll find Heather and you know what happened to Maggie wasn't your fault." Stiles looked away from me this time. I knew he carried guilt from that night with him but there was nothing he could have done to stop Gerard.

"Am I a fool to be worried about someone who can't even acknowledge me when Heather helped me through the summer? I feel like such a jerk." Stiles admitted slipping off the bed onto the floor to pick up more papers to read.

"You aren't a jerk. I can tell how worried you are about both of them. It's okay to feel conflicted. If life were easy, we'd take everything for granted." I explained earning a chuckle.

"Your whole zen thing is kinda of creepy sometimes." Stiles smiles through his cluster of anxiety. We worked for as long as we could before the Sheriff was shouting at us to get up. I nearly fell out of the computer chair hearing his voice.

"I've got to get out of here. You boys need to get to school." He said holding his coffee in one hand, already dressed and read to go. I rubbed the sleep out of my eyes and could feel how much I'd over worked them by reading so much last night.

"Dad…any word on Heather?" Stiles called out desperately.

"No nothing yet." The Sheriff frowned before walking away. Stiles jumped up from the floor tossing a paper off of his drool covered hand aggravated.

"10 hours and still nothing!" He rubbed his face.

"We're going to find something." I reassured him as he moved around his bed to take his meds.

"Finding something doesn't make Erica any less dead or Boyd any less about to be dead." Stiles snatched up papers off his bed.

"We still have time." I reminded him making him stop his rampage on the papers that had continued to print overnight.

"Is this whole like remain optimistic in the face of complete and utter disaster apart of the 'be a better Scott McCall program? I mean the Zen thing helped last night but right now I kind of want to punch you." Stiles threatened. I shrugged disappointed that I couldn't help Stiles feel any less anxious about what was going on.

"I guess not if it doesn't work." I said apologetically. Stiles face seemed to soften.

"No it does." He gave me a nod like he was sorry for snapping but the moment he looked at the paper in his hands he started freaking out.

"Oh…DAD! HEY DAD!" He tossed the paper at me before running to catch up with his dad and I looked it over. Apparently the Sheriff was the arresting officer of the bank job. My phone started going off and I saw Derek's name pop up on the screen.

"Hey did you find anything yet?" Derek asked clearly tense.

"Yeah we just found a lead. How is Maggie?" I asked concerned.

"She's still sleeping it off." Derek sounded like he was a bit more relieved.

"Well we've got to go to school but we'll come by with the plans right after. Is that okay" I asked just as Stiles came running back in.

"Yeah that's fine. We'll talk it over and leave at dark just to be safe." Derek said.

"Alright we'll see you then." I hung up the phone and looked up at Stiles.

"Was that Derek? How is Maggie?" Stiles asked without any hesitation.

"She's still resting but we'll meet at his place after school. I hope you found a plan." I said hopeful and Stiles held up a bunch of rolled up papers.

"I have blueprints to the bank and a police report." Stiles informed me.

"Which your dad gave you because you lied and told him it was for research?" I said knowing that even that was too good to be true.

"Scott, we talked about this. Just don't ask." Stiles looked at his watched and yanked his flannel off. We had about 10 minutes to change and get to school before we were late. Hopefully tonight would go better than before.

**[Maggie's POV]**

I woke up slowly, feeling how heavy my limbs felt resting on the bed. I blinked the sleep from my eyes to see Derek was sitting in the chair next to my bed asleep. I tried to remember how I'd even gotten back to the loft but nothing came to mind. All I could remember was the pain I felt. I let out an audible sigh rousing Derek from his light sleep.

"Did you find them? Did you go without me?" I asked the moment his eyes hit me.

"No, Scott and Stiles found a way into the vault. We're meeting tonight to go over the plan." I rolled my eyes falling back onto the bed.

"How do you feel?" Derek asked leaning forward.

"Currently? Annoyed." I finally managed to sit up but I felt nauseous.

"If we want to get Erica and Boyd back then you'll have to deal with it. Stop trying to overdo it and rest." Derek put his hand on my shoulder and pushed me back onto my pillows. I remembered putting Isaac in the ice bath and him saying that Erica was dead but I was almost afraid to even mention it to Derek.

"Look, I know you're worried but we'll find them. All of this searching is done tonight okay? I promise we'll get them back tonight." I looked up at Derek and he stared down at me.

"Okay." I answered simply. He sat back in the chair and put his hand on my arm, absorbing some of the ache that lingered in my muscles.

"It's been awhile since you've had an episode like last night." Derek pointed out. The last time I had one was the night I broke down over hearing Stiles voice through the walkie talkies but the truth was I didn't forget about taking them. I didn't take them on purpose. There's a part of me that felt like it was the punishment I deserved for hurting him so badly. If Derek knew why I hadn't taken them that night, it was unbeknown to me but I could tell he knew why I'd forgotten them last night.

"There's been a lot going on. I'll remember them from now on especially if it means outsourcing for help in my unconscious state." I listened for Isaac's heartbeat through the loft and it seemed steady.

"You know once we get Erica and Boyd back, things will probably change. You'll be able to live a bit more normal." Derek had clearly forgotten the huge threat that lingered over our heads.

"Getting Erica and Boyd back doesn't change the fact that the alpha pack is out for blood. It doesn't change what I did." I reminded him.

"It was kill or be killed Maggie. You had to-" I cut Derek off.

"I killed one of their own, Derek. They won't forget that and you know it. You think once we get them back that I'll just be able to bring Scott and Stiles back into the fold and help me deal with all of this." Derek's eyes met mine like he had no idea that I knew was he was up to but I'm not stupid.

"I know what you've been trying to do. Including them and trying to pull them in so they can somehow show me who I used to be but you need to let go of that. You need to let go of the idea that I'm still the same person I was when we started all this because I'm not." Derek's eyes grew sad as I put my hand over his so he was no longer taking my pain away.

"You can't do this alone." Derek's eyes pleaded with me and it pained me that I was causing him distress but I didn't know how to fix me anymore than he did. We both heard Isaac hiss in pain from downstairs and I took that as my chance to end this conversation.

"You need to give Isaac the tea in the fridge. It'll help with the spasms he's going to get." I rolled towards the night stand and saw Derek had placed the pain suppressants for me to take.

"I also want to move him up here. He needs to rest and he can't do that if you're having company over. He can rest in my bed." Derek walked towards the door and glanced back at me.

"I made breakfast...if you want some." I gave Derek a weak smile.

"Thank you." He nodded before walking out of the room and closing the door behind himself. I downed the medicine before picking up my cell phone and staring at the screen for a few moments. Today was going to be rough. I could already feel it. I knew my body would be feel wonky all day because of the seizing up that I did yesterday and dealing with Scott and Stiles here while worrying about Erica and Boyd was going to have me super anxious. I needed a distraction. I needed a third party to help keep the boys at arms reach while I kept my head in this. I dialed the phone and waited patiently for an answer.

"Well good morning sweetheart. It's not everyday I get a phone call from you. What's the occasion?" Peter seemed surprised and a bit too pleased that I was calling so early but I knew he'd already be up.

"We're making a move to get Erica and Boyd back tonight. Derek's got Scott and Stiles roped into helping and I was kind of hoping you could come by. Maybe provide a bit of a-" He cut me off.

"Support?" He questioned.

"Yeah something like that. I mean if you're busy doing something else-" He cut me off yet again.

"I'm never too busy for my only daughter. I'll come by around 5. Does that work?" I knew the tension it had caused with me getting closer to Peter but for some reason, he put me at ease. He made me think that I wasn't so horrible for being so impulsive. I don't know if it's a good thing or a bad thing, Derek seemed to think bad but I needed him no matter how much everyone wished I didn't.

"That's perfect. Thanks." I cleared my throat hearing Derek and Isaac moving around downstairs.

"I'll see you then sweetheart." I hung the phone up and pulled my knees to my chest. My life had changed so much in the last 6 months. I hardly recognized myself anymore. I couldn't remember the girl I used to be, all I know is that I felt colder, harder and more distant than I'd ever been. Part of me felt like that was the best thing for me. If I can keep the things I cherish away, it'll keep them safe. Another part of me felt like I had been walking around in darkness for a long time.

**[Stiles POV]**

I felt anxious getting onto the elevator once again. I still hadn't gotten word from dad about Heather and I was nervous about going back to Derek's after school. Maggie hadn't shown up for class but I wasn't really expecting her too. It was apparent that I shouldn't really expect anything when it came to Maggie anymore unless it involved being shunned which she seemed really good at when it came to me. I hated that. I hated that for some reason she was so capable of blowing me off like I'd done something wrong in all of this. I wasn't the one who lied. I didn't lead her to believe that we were something and then disappear. That was all her.

"You okay?" Scott interrupted my angsty thoughts.

"Yeah why?" I glanced over at him as I pulled up to the loft.

"You've got that angry eyebrow gaze thing you do whenever you're doing pissed off dialogue in your head with Maggie." I turned the jeep off.

"What are you talking about?" Scott was either losing it or he was trying to feel me out on all of this.

"It's a look you get whenever you're thinking about Maggie...like going over conversations in your head or trying to rationalize things that's happened with her. You've made it quite a few times this summer. I don't want to press, I just want to make sure you'll be okay to go in here." Scott opened his door and I followed him to the back of the jeep to retrieve the blueprints.

"It's not like she'll even acknowledge me so I'm sure I'll be fine. I just want to figure this out so we can find Heather." I shut the back of the jeep and saw Scott making a strange face.

"What? What's wrong?" I looked around the lot and Scott hurried into the building. He looked like he was tracking a scent that he didn't like all the way up the elevator until we opened the door to see none other than Peter Hale sitting on the couch.

"What the hell are you doing here?" I asked harshly. He merely smirked and closed the book he was reading.

"Hello boys. It's always such a pleasure to see you." He mocked leaning back against the couch.

"Where's Maggie? What did you-" Derek came down the steps shaking his head.

"Maggie's fine. She's upstairs taking care of Isaac right now." Derek put his hands out like he was trying to calm us down but when we gestured to Peter he rolled his eyes.

"Who invited the psycho-wolf to the party?" I asked keeping my eyes on Peter.

"My daughter actually invited me and as much as I enjoy seeing that stupid confused look on your faces, perhaps you should keep in mind that you've been out of the picture for quite some time. A lot of changes have happened this summer." Derek cleared his throat cutting off his smug rant but I was still pretty thrown by Peter's presence. Why the hell would Maggie ask Peter to be here unless we needed someone to be a scape goat in this plan?

"Forget him, we need to get started on this. We're running out of time." Derek cleared off a table and I cautiously walked towards it, cutting my eyes at Peter and trying to shake the bad vibes off. I pulled the blue prints out and spread them across the metal table.

"These are the floor plans for the Beacon Hills First National Bank. This right here is how they got in. It's a rooftop air conditioning vent. It leads down into the wall of the vault, which is here." I heard a door from the top of the steps open and Maggie walked out in a loose tank and extremely short pajama shorts. She caught sight of me and walked back into the room quickly like she didn't realize Derek had company.

"Stiles." Scott cleared his throat making me shake my head trying not to think about Maggie's naked legs.

"One of the robbers was lowered into this shaft but that space is so small it took them about 12 hours to drill into that wall, which is stone by the way. The rest of the night they cyphened the cash up to the guys on the roof through that one little shaft in the wall." I capped my marker after showing Derek the entry points to the vault.

"I hope those are copies of the blueprints you stole from you father. I don't want him being apart of any of this." Maggie had reemerged, dressed this time looking much better than she had last night.

"I don't steal from my father, I borrow." I corrected her as she descended the stairs. She didn't even flinch when Peter walked over and sat on the steps she'd just walked down. She stood back near him rather than approach us at the table.

"Can we fit in there?" Scott asked drawing me back into the task at hand.

"Yes we can but very, very barely and they also patched the wall so we'll need a drill of some sort. I'm thinking maybe a diamond bit-" Derek cut me off.

"Forget the drill." His head had sagged and I looked over at him.

"Sorry?" I questioned hearing him sigh.

"If I go in first, how much space do I have?" He answered my question with another question.

"What do you think you're going to do Derek? Punch through the wall?" I leaned off the table making Derek stand up straight and cross his arms over his chest.

"Yes Stiles, I'm going to punch through the wall." He smiled tauntingly.

"Oh really? Fine then let's see it big guy. Let's see that fist, big ole fist. Make it. Come on." I held my hand out waiting for him to extend his own as he looked past me to Scott silently probably wishing I would disappear. He gave me his fist and I gripped his wrist, placing my hand above it.

"Okay you see that? That's maybe 3 inches of space to gather enough force to punch threw solid-" Derek extended his fist without much effort sending me backwards when it made contact with my palm.

"DEREK!" Maggie shouted at him as I turned away from them to look at my probably fractured hand.

"Ahh. AH! He can do it. Mother-fa- he can do it." I squeaked out.

"Be easy on his hands Derek. I'm sure he has to utilize them quite often." Peter jawed making me attempt to give him the finger but my hand was still throbbing.

"That's enough. I'll get through the wall but who's following me down?" Derek finally spoke up looking in Peter's direction.

"Don't look at me. I'm not up to fighting speed yet and honestly with Isaac out of commission, you're not looking at very good odds for yourself." Peter shrugged like we were already defeated.

"The voice of optimistic is always quite the annoyance isn't it?" I gritted out walking back towards the table.

"So what? I'm just supposed to let them die?" Derek threw his arms out.

"One of them already is." Peter reminded us making Maggie step away from him.

"We don't know that." Peter looked at Maggie like she had lost her mind.

"Do I have to remind you what exactly we're up against here? A pack of alphas, all of them are killers, all of them are pissed off about what happened this summer." Maggie's eyes hit the floor and she wrapped her arms around herself drawing inward. Whatever Peter was talking about was clearly something she felt guilty about.

"If that doesn't scare the hell out of you than try to remember that two of them combine bodies to form one giant alpha." That was brand new information to me but I actually was pretty fascinated with seeing this giant alpha.

"I'm sure Erica and Boyd were sweet kids and they'll be missed." Peter mumbled making Maggie look up.

"Can someone kill him again please?" I caught Peter's glare and felt like I'd finally gotten my bearings with this sass off we apparently were having.

"Seriously? This is not worth the risk." He finally looked away from me towards Derek but before Derek could say anything Maggie pulled out of her shell.

"I will bring them home or I'll die trying. If you have a problem with that then you can go." Maggie's tone had changed completely and the room grew even more tense if that's possible. Derek finally spoke up.

"Alright then I'm going to need you to make these plans smaller so I can have a guide when I go." He leaned on the table and Maggie's head snapped towards him.

"What? No Derek you aren't going alone. I'm going with you." She insisted.

"She's actually kind of right. This is a two man job at the very least. Not that I think she should be going." I added quickly just so she would know that I supported someone going with Derek but not her because after what I saw last night, Maggie needed some serious rest. She cut her eyes at me, clearly unhappy with my suggestion.

"After what happened with Isaac the last time we had a plan, you aren't fit for this. Your head is all over the place and you're going to get yourself or someone else killed." Derek said firmly.

"Look I know I screwed up but facing them alone is suicide. You know that. You can't just walk in there by yourself." Maggie explained.

"He won't be. I'll go with you." The room seemed to go silent once Scott spoke up. Maggie's panic was almost instant on her face when she finally realized he'd volunteered.

"Scott, no. I told you that we appreciate your help but you need to stay out of this." Maggie insisted.

"Sweetheart as much as it pains me to say this, maybe we should let Scott's hero complex play itself out." Peter sighed once more as he stood up from the steps smugly.

"Okay new plan- We offer Peter up as a replacement. I'm sure they can figure out a better use for a useless douchewolf." Scott tries to hide his smile and I desperately wanted to get a much deserved high five but Maggie didn't think it was funny at all.

"This is ridiculous Derek. I'm not going to let you drag Scott into this now. We had a deal dammit!" She shouted slamming her hand down on the metal table.

"I don't know why you suddenly think we can't help you or can't be trusted with this but you're wrong. We've always been stronger together, Maggie." Scott stepped towards her making her step back.

"This isn't a debate Maggie. I'm pulling rank here. You aren't coming with us. Stay with Isaac. If things take a turn then we'll call for back up." Derek said making Maggie's eyebrows go up.

"You're getting pretty comfortable with pulling rank now, I see. So much for being a big brother." Maggie stormed up the steps and Derek followed her.

"What the hell does pulling rank even mean?" I asked looking to Scott for answers as he pulled me towards the door.

"Look, I need you to stay here. I think we both know it's not a good idea for her to be out there right now and if you stay here than maybe she'll think twice about leaving." Scott explained in hushed tones as if we weren't standing in an apartment full of werewolves.

"Yeah I can stay. I mean she probably won't talk to me but I'll stick around." Scott gave me a look before glancing over my shoulder.

"Keep an eye on him too." I looked back forgetting for a moment that Peter was still here.

"Oh what? No no! I hate this plan." I whined. Scott gave me a pleading look as Derek came back down the stairs.

"Fine but I'm not going to like it." I mumbled. I walked over to the table and plotted out the map like Derek had asked.

"Is she okay?" I asked handing him the piece of paper.

"She'll be fine. I trust you won't be stupid enough to pick any fights with him. He may be weak still but that doesn't make him powerless. Keep your guard up." Derek offered surprisingly as Peter sat down on the couch, letting out sigh.

"I thought I told you before, my hearing is impeccable Derek so if you have something to say then just say it to my face." Peter propped his feet up on the table and put his arms behind his head. Derek walked by and shoved his feet off the table.

"Let Isaac rest and don't make things worse than they already are. She doesn't need the added stress." Derek said as he walked towards the door.

"Don't let him get inside your head." Scott said before catching up to Derek. I watched them pull the heavy door closed behind themselves as they left and heard Peter sigh from the couch. I walked back towards the window and saw Derek's new car pull away from the building. I tried to busy myself by straightening the papers on the table or looking around at what I could see in the loft. The place didn't really have a ton of things but you could tell it was comfortable for them. I listened the best I could hoping I could hear Maggie upstairs with Isaac.

"You won't hear anything. She keeps that room sound proof." I looked over at Peter who had his eyes closed, head resting on the back of the couch.

"Who said I was listening?" I asked shooting him down.

"Please. You aren't here because you missed me. You're here sweating it out because she's up there with Isaac. The boy she choose to spend the summer with opposed to you. It seems almost like I should say I told you so but-" I cut him off unwilling to listen to his ridiculous rants.

"And why are you here exactly? Huh? I highly doubt that Maggie invited you considering you're about as useful as a two dollar bill so why don't you cut the shit and just come out with whatever master plan you have to screw us all over." I leaned on the table watching his eyes open slowly, a stupid grin pulling across his face.

"I honestly don't think you want me to argue with you Stiles. I can smell the discomfort, the fear. You're terrified to find out why I'm really here, not because I might have some ulterior motives. No you think maybe, just maybe I'm telling the truth and Maggie needs me here. Worse, wants me here more so than you." I swallowed the lump in my threat and turned away from him, getting up to walk over to the window once more.

"It was a long summer indeed Stiles. We had a lot of time to make a mends. You don't have to believe me because your doubt is what keeps you curious." I crossed my arms over my chest tightly trying to focus my attention out at the moon. We were running out of time and I was doing exactly what Scott told me not to do. I was letting Peter get under my skin.

"Just go back to your narcissist nap, crazebar." I gritted out earning a chuckle from his stupid mouth. I tried not to think about what he could have done to Maggie over the summer. She already seemed a million miles away from me. If I lost her to Peter, I wouldn't even know what to do with myself.

**[Maggie's POV]**

I paced around the room after listening to Derek and Scott pull away. This whole thing was beyond me. I should never have made that deal with Derek. I regretted it instantly now that Scott was being thrown in the middle of the alpha pack business without a clue of just how dangerous they could be. He's only seen a glimpse compared to what I've been through. Derek knew I wouldn't be able to handle this. He knew I'd be worried sick if I wasn't there but he pulled rank anyway.

"You're pacing is making me nauseous." Isaac croaked startling me. I walked over and sat on the edge of my bed.

"Derek pulled rank. Scott isn't ready for the alpha pack. Hell, we weren't even ready for the alpha pack. He's being stupid." I felt my knees bouncing on the floor and knew if I didn't lie back against the mattress, I'd be fidgeting.

"You blacked out from pain last night Maggie. Maybe Derek thinks you just need a break." Isaac cleared his throat when I leaned back.

"I don't need a break. I need Erica and Boyd to be safe. I need the boys to stay out of this and away from me. I need you to get better and for Derek to stop thinking I need some sort of therapy." I rubbed my temples hearing Isaac suppress a laugh. Silence filled the room as I settled into getting lost in my head. I tried not to listen to whatever was happening downstairs. It was strange enough having Stiles here. I didn't think he'd ever be here but he was just a few feet away now. Something about having Stiles so close by made my chest feel heavy. I felt exposed and on edge and I hated it. Thing's were easier when he wasn't around. I could feel the way I felt about myself and not feel so bad about it but now it was almost unbearable.

"You don't have to stay up here with me, you know? Not that I don't enjoy your company but I've slept before. I'm actually quite good at it." Isaac said as I stared up at the ceiling.

"I'd rather be up here with you than down their with them. I'm not ready for all that yet." I admitted. I caught bits and pieces of what Peter and Stiles were talking about but knew I should just keep my head up here because it was only making me feel worse.

"You honestly think it's better for Peter to talk to Stiles instead of you? Wow Derek was right. You're out of it." Isaac huffed making me roll my eyes.

"It's better this way. Stiles is better off without me in his life. I'm bad for him. I don't even know why he's sticking around." The only person I had semi opened up to about how I felt about myself was Isaac. He was there the night I killed Laci. He saw the animalistic rage I used to tear her to pieces. No one will ever see that part of me again. I wished he hadn't.

"He's here because you're here and because he cares about you whether you think it's best or not." Isaac shifted in the bed causing himself to wince. I turned towards him to help him and make sure he knew I was there to offer any relief from his pain.

"You're not a bad person Maggie. Everything you've done has been to protect the people you love. You've got to get what Deucalion said out of your head." Isaac said making me stop what I was doing to look at him. He'd been preaching the same thing since I started talking to him about it but I couldn't help the way I felt. Derek was convinced it was a Hale family trait to feel heavy guilt but that night was different. I didn't feel human that night. I felt like a monster.

"What if I can't?" I breathed seeing Isaac close his eyes.

"Then you'll never stop hiding. I guess the good news is that I'll keep you company." I watched Isaac move his arm gesturing for me to move closer to him and I couldn't help but smile sadly at him. I cuddled into his side carefully taking comfort in his embrace as he leeched away some of his pain.

_"I can't take waiting around like this. It's nerve-wracking. My nerves are wracked. They're severely wracked. WRAAACK!"_

_"I could beat you unconscious and wake you when it's over?"_

I listened for a moment to Stiles and Peter talk and got the vibe that they'd be just fine down there by themselves. Isaac absently rubbed his hand up and down my back and I actually felt myself relax into him.

"You know he's probably down there thinking the worst right? Especially with Peter in his ear." Isaac said.

"He can think what he wants. I don't care." I shrugged telling the truth I half believed.

"You're only saying that because of what happened at that party." Isaac reminded me of the night I came home after going to talk to Scott and Stiles and finding Stiles with a condom. I couldn't deny that it made me feel things I wished I hadn't.

"Yeah well forgive me for being a bit put out, I wasn't out screwing you all summer. I was trying not to die." I said bitterly.

"He doesn't know that. He doesn't know any of it." Isaac reminded me.

"He doesn't need to know. He clearly found a way to move on so what does it matter?" I could feel Isaac staring at the top of my head as I leaned on him.

"Okay, I'm not going to say you're jealous-" I cut Isaac off by lifting my head to look at him with a warning.

"You know, just because you're hurt and it's my fault doesn't mean I won't punch you." I threatened.

"Let's just connect some dots here. Stiles pants were unzipped and he was retrieving a condom. When he went back down, Heather was missing right? So obviously thing's didn't go as far as you think." I shook my head at him.

"It doesn't matter. None of this matters. Stiles can sleep with whoever he wants to. I don't care." Isaac smiled softly at me. I know he heard the lie but I dared him to say anything about it.

"You and I shared a few intimate moments this summer too." He reminded.

"But that's different. That's a comfort thing and we weren't together so it's not like I cheated on him." I explained. Isaac reached out and patted my leg.

"I'm pretty sure Stiles found comfort in that girl just like you found comfort in me. It wasn't cheating on either end but you were both filling a void." I frowned at Isaac. All I could remember was the night that I cried on his chest after hearing Stiles through the walkie talkies. I was a freaking mess. It was the first real time I think I was able to admit to myself how broken I'd become.

"Just because you've done thing's, doesn't mean you aren't worthy of love. I love you. Derek loves you. Scott loves you." I shook my head and looked away from Isaac.

"You're supposed to be resting." I got up from the bed and pulled the blanket back up to Isaac's chest giving him the opportunity to grab my hand and stop me.

"Maggie, you once told me that we don't know who we are until we're connected to someone else and you were right. I think we find out that we're better human beings when we're with the person we're supposed to be with." I placed Isaac's hand back on his chest and rested my hand atop it for a moment.

"I'm not a human being. I'm a werewolf and a witch. The human part of me died a long time ago." Isaac's face seemed to fall as he rested his head back against the pillows.

"Get some rest. I'll tell them to keep it down." I walked out of the room and rested my hand on the door so I could soundproof the inside as well as the outside.

_"Do you think Erica's really dead?"_

_"Do you think I really care?"_

I could hear Stiles and Peter still talking downstairs. Stiles pacing was actively making me nervous.

"I just don't understand the bank though? Why not chain them up in some underground lair or something. They're an alpha pack right? Shouldn't they have a lair?" Stiles asked confused.

"They're werewolves, not Bond villains." I could tell Peter was running out of patience with Stiles.

"Wait a second! Maybe they're living there? Maybe their bank vault reminds them of their wolf den!" Stiles threw his arms out and I shook my head.

"Wolf dens." He whispered seeing me at the top of the stairs.

"Yeah, where do you live?" Stiles turned around and looked at Peter.

"In an underground network of caves hidden deep in the woods." I couldn't help but smile at his response.

"Whoa really?" Stiles took the bait which surprised me a bit.

"No you idiot. I have an apartment downtown." He rolled his eyes as I descended the steps.

"They aren't living there. It's basic hostage protocol. You never keep your prisoners where you sleep. You should know that being the Sheriff's son." I said making my presence known.

"Maggie likes my apartment, don't you?" Peter smiled over at me.

"You've been to his apartment?" Stiles asked looking dumbstruck.

"Yes she has. We actually have family dinners a few times a week. She needed someone to talk to during these very trying times in her life. Someone strong enough to handle her woes." Peter stretched the truth making me roll my eyes. He was no stranger to that but I knew it was only to anger Stiles.

"Can you both keep it down please?" I finally tried to interject but Stiles narrowed his eyes on Peter.

"God you are such a dick." Stiles shook his head glaring at Peter but he only chuckled at his anger.

"I don't know why but your disdain for me brings me such joy. It truly does. I mean the insults from a 16 year old space case really wound me but I know underneath all that hostility you really care." Peter taunted. Stiles walked towards him like he was ready to unleash but I was tired of the bickering.

"Dad! This isn't helping." Stiles froze where he stood, eyes now trained on me like I'd just spoke in tongues and his whole world stopped.

"Are you kidding me?" I turned to face him unsure of who he was talking to but he took a moment to look me up and down, like he was sizing me up.

"You bled out and died in my arms after he tried to rip your heart out of your chest but spending the summer with him suddenly makes him your dad? You get physically uncomfortable to even look at me yet he gets a free pass for all the horrible things he's done. Who the hell are you?" I held Stiles eye contact as long as I could. I knew his anger was justified. I knew he was confused about what was going on with me and having Peter here wasn't making things any easier but I couldn't explain it. I couldn't explain away what had happened over the summer. This was the way it needed to be.

"Maggie, when they took you, you said you couldn't use your strength or your magic right?" Peter filled the tense silence almost immediately.

"I don't want to talk about that." I dismissed him quickly but he jumped up from the couch.

"I'm being serious. How did it make you feel being in there? How did your body feel?" He persisted. Stiles shot a curious glance at him waiting for me to answer.

"Weakened but on edge. Like being held over a flame." I rubbed my arm nervously. Peter looked away from me to Stiles.

"What are the walls made of? The walls of the bank?" He walked towards Stiles who shook his head.

"Why does that matter?" Stiles asked as Peter started looking through the blueprints. It was almost like I could read his mind where it was going.

"The type of stone could have an effect on the moon. Which means-" Peter cut me off.

"This is a trap." Stiles instantly grabbed the papers off the table and started searching for the materials and I ran back upstairs to gear up. I wasn't going to let the alpha pack take the rest of my family away from me. Not that easy.

**[Scott's POV]**

Derek and I parked a safe distance from the bank before approaching it cautiously. It was eerily quiet and I couldn't pick up many scents around the building. Something felt off. It almost felt too easy. I got a text from Stiles saying that things were all good back at the loft and Derek glanced over at me.

"She'll be fine. She's just got a lot of anger inside of her right now." Derek breathed without looking at me.

"I can tell. I guess this alpha pack did that to her." I fished for a little information but I wasn't very slick about it.

"That's something she'll have to talk to you about, at least I hope she does." Derek grumbled out as he looked the back of the building up and down.

"What was that whole pulling rank thing? What's that about?" I asked hoping he'd at least answer that.

"It's a blood contract we decided on. There were a few conditions on her going into hiding and one was recognizing that I was the alpha she'd be following and that at any time I could pull rank which meant she was obligated by a blood pact to do exactly what I told her to do. At the time it was useful because she didn't want you two knowing where she was but I guess now she's pissed I still get to use it with the secret being out." Derek explained. It was a smart idea for him to do that. Maggie has always been stubborn so making it next to impossible for her to put herself in danger using magic definitely put my mind at ease.

"I haven't really wanted to use it on her with how much she's been pulling away from us but now that you're both in the know-" I cut him off.

"We aren't in the know. We have no idea what's been going on with any of you." I said stopping in my tracks as we finally found a fire escape that would be the entrance that Stiles marked on the miniature map. My sideways glance at him made him let out an annoyed sigh.

"What? You want an apology? It wasn't my decision Scott." Derek defended himself but I shrugged.

"No it's just...I can't get something out of my head." I admitted.

"The moon's rising Scott. What is it?" He pressed looking back over our shoulders where the moon slowly crept up on us.

"Risk and reward." I said still looking at the building trying to put this plan into order in my head.

"Which means what?" He was growing impatient.

"It means we're not measuring the risk with enough information, we don't know enough." I looked over at him.

"We know time is running out before they kill them." Derek said with panic.

"Yeah but think about it. They put the triskele on your door four months ago. What have they been doing all this time? They got Maggie but somehow she managed to escape? Why let Maggie go and keep the others? If they were trying to eliminate a threat then why wouldn't they have kept Maggie? Why would they wait until now to finally kill Erica and Boyd?" I asked trying to piece some sense of all this together.

"We don't have time to figure out every little detail." Derek's heartbeat was racing and as much as the old me would have shut up and rushed into this, I wasn't the same person I used to be. This was a calculated strategy but the alpha pack. We couldn't afford to run in here blind.

"But what if this little detail is the most important one?" Derek finally took a step back and shook his head.

"Then we do nothing and Erica and Boyd are dead." I knew the probability of this was weighing on Derek. Those were two of his betas. I couldn't imagine the storm that was going on in his head. Being a werewolf was hard enough but being an alpha, being that responsible for a number of lives had to feel terrifying.

"I know what I'm risking Scott. My life for theirs." He said like it was the most simple thing he's ever decided. I took a few steps back from the building to shake what he just said out of my head.

"What? Why are you dragging your feet here? We don't really have time for you to be second guessing this." Derek step back towards me, completely oblivious to why I'd be a bit skeptical about pressing on.

"I'm dragging my feet because you basically just said you were going to sacrifice yourself." I threw my arms out pointing out his stupid solution.

"I'm their alpha, Scott." He stuck his chest out and it drove me crazy. As if being their alpha was a death sentence and there was no second option.

"You're also Maggie's cousin and from what I can see you're more than that. What am I supposed to go back and tell her?" I reminded him and watched his face fall at the mention of her name. It didn't take a genius to know that Derek and Maggie had grown closer as a family unit. I was actually kind of proud of Derek for letting her in but this would kill her.

"You tell her I did what I had to and that…she'll be okay." Derek was lying to himself. That was the saddest part of this. He knew I could hear his heart but his face was what spoke volumes. His doubt was written all over his expression.

"Well we both know that's not the case. She needs you Derek." Derek looked at me for a few moments like he was registering just how serious I was being before shaking his head.

"She needs you too. Right now she needs you more." He stepped forward ready to jump up to the fire escape but I gripped his shoulder.

"Then lets go in here, save them and get back home to start working on saving her." I set out a plan for Derek and he nodded at me confirming that he was on board with it. I wasn't going to go back to Maggie without Derek. I couldn't do that. No matter how screwed up things had become, I couldn't tell Maggie that she lost another family member.

I watched Derek scale the side of the building, pulling himself up the ladder with ease. I followed his lead up the side of the building and helped him shimmy down into the shaft that Stiles had marked. It was a tight fit but I watched him struggle slightly to get enough room to punch through the wall. The first attempt moved the wall just barely. The second produced a crack that made him look up at me. He continued to punch two more times before gritting out.

"Not a word about this to Stiles." Derek warned making put my hands up. He took a deep breath and finally punched through the wall. He tumbled through the opening and stepped through behind him, taking in the darkness of the vault. There was a tall figure standing in the darkness of the vault and Derek and I both stilled.

"Boyd?" He called out making the figure move towards us in the dim light of the moon we'd let in. It was Boyd and he was growling and radiating with anger.

"Boyd, it's me. It's Derek." Derek put his hand out still a good distance from Boyd trying to get through to him. My phone started vibrating and I answered it quickly.

"Stiles, now is a really bad time." I whispered harshly.

"SCOTT! Scott you've got to listen to me okay?" Boyd's head jerked towards me, clearly hearing Stiles scream through the phone.

"Look you've got to get out of there. The walls of the vault are made of a mineral called hecatolite. It scatters the moonlight." Stiles said sounding panicked.

"We're here to get you out okay?" Derek said not bothering to listen to Stiles on the phone.

"What does that even mean?" I asked keeping my eyes on Derek as he slowly advanced towards Boyd.

"It keeps the moonlight out Scott! They haven't felt the full moon in months." Stiles explained.

"Think of it like the gladiators and the Roman Colosseum, they used to starve the lions for 3 days to make them more vicious, more out of control. Deucalion has kept them from shifting for three full moons, diminishing their tolerance for it." Peter spoke up even sounding freaked out.

"Scott they're going to be stronger-"

"More savage and bloodthirsty too. Scott, they're the lions. They're the starved lions and you and Derek just stepped into the Colosseum." I caught sight of the moonlight coming in through the hole we'd created and felt the growls in the vault bouncing off the walls.

"Derek, we have a problem. A really big problem." I breathed just as the second wolf came around the pillar to stand next to Boyd. It wasn't Erica. It was a girl with long dark hair.

"Cora?" Derek's body froze as he stared at the girl I'd never seen before.

"Cora?" He said more desperate this time.

"Derek...get out...get out now." The girl knew Derek as she pleaded desperately for him to leave. I noticed the line of mountain ash against the wall and followed it to vault door as it swung open. I could hear Stiles yelling my name on the other end of the phone as Ms. Morrell came into the light of the vault door. She knelt down and dropped one final fist of mountain ash on the line, closing the circle and making Boyd and the girl snarl instantly.

"NO WAIT!" I tried to run towards the door but she had already stepped back away from the door. I was caught by the throat and tossed against the wall by Boyd. Before Boyd could claw at my chest, Derek grabbed him from behind and tossed him against the wall. The girl clawed down Derek's back making him roll away and block her arms as she threw them towards his chest. I bounced to my feet and shoved her to the ground hard enough to daze her. I fell back against the vault wall next to Derek.

"You know her?!" I asked finally.

"She's my sister! My younger sister." Derek yelled just as out of it as I was apparently. Even more so I guess because the last we talked, his family was dead.

"What is she doing here?" I questioned.

"Like I have a clue! I thought she was dead!" We watched Boyd and Cora get to their feet and get their bearings back in order.

"LOOK OUT!" Allison voice surprised me from the open door and Boyd grabbed a hold of me, tossing me back into the marble wall and digging his claws deep into my chest.

"AHHH!" I growled out in pain as he lifted me up off my feet. I felt the blood start to pour out of my mouth and my head was spinning. I could hear Derek yell something but I was on the verge of either passing out from pain or dying. Everything started to fade until Allison called out once more.

"BOYD!" He dropped me like I'd burnt his hand and let me hit the ground with a thud so he could sprint across the vault and run out with Cora at his side. For a second I thought maybe he was going after Allison but all they wanted was to be free from this confines. I couldn't help but think that if they were this vicious towards Derek and I, what would happen to the first innocent people to run into them out there? There was no time to catch our breath. We had to find Boyd and Cora before they tore someone else apart.


	4. Chasing After You

**[Maggie's POV]**

I ran past Derek's car as I did laps around the building looking for a safe entrance. The more things I passed, the more I started to get a vague since of deja vu. I found the front door cracked open and pulled it open when I heard arguing.

"DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA WHAT YOU'VE DONE?!" Derek's voice boomed.

"YOU WANT TO BLAME ME?! Well I'm the one turning teenagers into killers!" Allison argued with Derek. His shirt was slashed through as well and blood stained splotches littered the once green material.

"No that's just the rest of your family." Derek spat.

"I made mistakes. Gerard is not my fault." Allison said but I could hear the small hesitation in her voice.

"Of course he's not, no one could ever say that. Now can someone please tell me what the hell is going on here? Did you find them?" I interrupted their arguing and Allison shook her head.

"What about your mother?" Derek ignored me and both Scott and I looked at Derek. That secret has stayed between us since that night and Derek was spilling the beans now?

"Tell her Scott." Derek walked away from all of us towards the vault door and I looked Scott over. He was covered in blood, his own blood and Allison stood disheveled. Waves of grief and confusion coming off of her.

"Are you okay?" I asked looking Scott over.

"I'm fine." He nodded carefully.

"What did he mean Scott? What aren't you telling me?" Allison walked towards us and I stepped back trying to give them space but Allison's eyes met mine.

"Maggie please...what is he talking about? I know you know. Scott is like a brother to you. If he won't tell me, then you should." Allison was more forceful this time and Scott let out a sigh.

"The night of the rave...the night your Derek accidentally bit your mom...he was saving me." Scott kept his eyes down. I felt like I was intruding on this personal conversation and honestly all I wanted to know is if Erica and Boyd were alright.

"Saving you from who?" Allison pressed.

"Your mom. She ran me down and tried to use wolfsbane to poison me. If Derek hadn't shown up, I'd have died. She was trying to protect you from me...from this life." Scott explained and I could tell Allison's world just shattered a little bit more.

"Why didn't you tell me?" She forced back tears and swallowed the lump that had surfaced in the fight against her emotions.

"Allison, I'll tell you anything you want to know but right now-" I cut Scott off.

"Scott...she deserves to know why." He looked at me before finally meeting her saddened gaze.

"I couldn't. I couldn't let that be the last memory that you had of her." Allison's chest shook slightly and I wished I knew someway to comfort her but there were no words. There was no gesture I could offer with such a burden. I've had to live with the same one and it kills a part of you. Knowing that your mother died to protect you is something that destroys you. I was pulled from the uncomfortable silence as Derek walked slowly out of the vault carrying Erica's lifeless body. I felt my legs grow heavy and my heart jump. There was only four heartbeats in the room.

"No…she can't…she can't be." I whispered in disbelief unable to move my legs to reach out for her.

"She's gone Maggie." Derek croaked out, throat raw with devastation and disappointment. We refused to believe Isaac's unconscious rants but a part of me wished I had. I wished I would have put in my head that she might already be dead because this pain that was washing over me felt like it was taking my entire body over.

"I'm so sorry-" I cut Scott off.

"NO! She can't be dead! I would have felt it! Derek, we would have felt it!" I started to pace knowing I needed to get my body to move or else I'd shut down.

"This is all my fault." I felt hot tears trying to force itself out but I covered my face quickly. All I could think about was that night. I shouldn't have left them. I shouldn't have just left Erica and Boyd. I should have known this would happen. They should have just killed me.

"Maggie, this isn't your-" Scott reached out to comfort me and I flung my arms away from my face, smacking his hands back and startling him and Allison.

"Don't touch me. Just stay away from me." I felt my hands shaking and tucked them under my arms.

"Maggie…I know you're hurting but you can't keep pushing me away." Scott said desperately but all I could do was feel rage boiling up inside of my stomach.

"You have no idea how I feel." I bit looking directly into his eyes before focusing my eyes past him to Derek. I had to be strong right now. I had to get Derek to focus on the task at hand. I reached out and touched Derek's arm snapping his eyes to mine, sharing the pain with him.

"I'll take her home but you have to find Boyd before it's too late." Derek started to walk with me in silence.

"He's with Cora." Derek muttered making me turn around as I opened the door to the backseat.

"Cora Hale? Your little sister?" I questioned making him nod.

"I thought she was dead...all these years I thought-" I put my hand on Derek's chest and he lifted his eyes to mine.

"We'll have a chance for you to catch up with her but first we need to get her and Boyd to safety. I'll take Erica home and send Isaac to help you okay?" Derek sat Erica down in the back and pulled the blanket over her like he was trying to keep her warm. I shut the door and kept my hands on the car for a few moments bracing myself. We stood together, numb and unsure of what to do for a few seconds before Derek stepped towards me like he might hug me but I stopped him.

"If you hug me, I'm going to break down and right now, neither of us have time to do that. Go save our family and we'll grieve later." I heard my voice shake as I fight the urge to just lose it but luckily Derek knew I was right.

"Tell Isaac to follow my scent and we'll meet up to start a search." Derek didn't linger much but he did stop long enough to kiss my forehead quickly and take off back into the bank. I didn't bother going back in. I got in the car and headed towards the loft. I noticed how shaky they were resting on the steering wheel and I tried not to think about the dead body of one of my friends in the backseat.

"I'm so sorry. I never should have left without you and Boyd that night. I should have burned the place down. I should have done something." I wished she could respond. I would give anything and everything for her to just huff out a laugh and tell me how much bad she was going to make me work before forgiving me. All I felt now was a cold numbness that was soaking through to my bones as I pulled up to the loft and Isaac came running out.

"Derek just called and said..." He stopped short when I opened the backdoor. He saw Erica lying in the blanket and approached slowly.

"I need you to help me get her upstairs. I'm going to clean her up." I could feel Isaac's eyes leave Erica's body to stare at me in confusion but when I started to pull her out myself he put his hand on my arm.

"I've got her. I've got her." He repeated putting his arms under her and lifting her bridal style towards his chest. I shut the door on the car and followed Isaac back inside towards the elevator. It was a silent ride up and we were met at the door by Peter and Stiles. I walked over to the table and swept all the maps and papers that Stiles had brought over to the floor so Isaac could lay her down.

"Maggie..." Stiles started to walk towards the table and I shut him out of my head.

"Isaac, I need you to grab my bag behind my door before you leave. Derek needs you to help track down Boyd and Cora." I said firmly.

"Cora? My niece Cora?" Peter spoke up and I nodded.

"They were holding her with Boyd apparently. That was the other person Isaac felt." Isaac ran down the steps with my bag as I stroked Erica's hair from her black veined ridden face.

"What are you going to do with her?" Isaac asked me as I continued to brush her hair from her face.

"I'm going to fix her." I said simply. There was a beat of silence that fell in the room and I felt my dad step closer to me.

"Maggie, she's gone. You can't fix-" I snapped my eyes up to his cutting him off cold.

"I'm not going to bury her like this. Do you understand me?" I gritted my teeth together and chuffed at him making him nod his head in understanding. Isaac said a few things before he took off but I didn't catch it. All I wanted to do was try my best at restoring a bit of dignity back to Erica so she could have a proper burial. My hands hovered, shaking over her skin. I didn't want to latch with her and see what they'd put her through. That would destroy me and I knew it. I cleared my head and flipped through the pages of remedies book. I knew the spell I needed. I saw Caroline use it once when I was younger on an animal that she'd hit with her car.

"Maggie, you know you need to be very careful with using those spells. If you even try to bring back-" I closed my eyes slowly trying to block out Peter's voice.

"I'm not bringing her back. Why would I? I don't even want to be here." I muttered before resting my hand on Erica's forehead. Her skin was cold and I felt the back of my eyes prick with tears but I fought them back as I started doing the incantation. The blackness in her veins started to disappear slowly starting from her forehead and trailing down through her entire body. I could feel the pain and agony that she once felt draining out of her and I had to take a few deep breaths to keep from collapsing. I felt a sudden jolt to my stomach and I let out a gasp clenching my midsection. Peter started towards me and I put my hand out stopping him. The feeling rolled up my chest, into my throat and exploded in my head like a siren making me yank at my hair.

"What's happening? Is she having another episode?" Stiles asked confused looking to Peter for answers. I knew what the feeling was. I hadn't experienced it often but I knew it was because of Lydia. Our connection had grown over the summer and I'd been looking into what could possibly cause a physical reaction to her experiencing trauma. It was mild in comparison to the ones I've had before so I knew she was at least okay but there's no telling what was going on with her yet. I just added it to the pile of things I had to worry about.

"Maggie maybe you should just take a minute?" Stiles suggested as I opened my eyes letting a tear roll down my cheek. I continued to ignore him as I filled a small bucket with warm water so I could wash the blood from her hands and arms. I dipped the rag back into the water wringing out the blood that had stained it. I was completely lost in my thoughts of the last conversation we had. It's funny how now that I had her back, the memories of that night came back vividly. The smell of blood and sweat in the air. The mixed emotions flowing from Erica, Boyd and Isaac that went straight through me, overwhelming all of my own fears and pain.

"I'm not afraid to die, you know. After everything that's happened, it's the furthest thing from my mind." I said feeling Peter walk up next to me to look down at Erica as she lay out in front of the both of us now looking like she was merely sleeping. There were no dark veins covering her fair skin, no tension or panic in her face. She looked at peace.

"That's because you care about other people. You've built this wall around yourself to protect your heart but you made a fatal mistake when you let people behind those walls. When you love someone, you protect them with everything you have. But sometimes it's not enough. Sometimes they get hurt or they get killed and there's no stopping it. The wall starts to crumble and you find that dying would be a sweet relief to the pain of losing the people you love more than anything." Peter put his hand on my shoulder and I flinched slightly. It wasn't a touch of comfort but one of strength as he tightened his grip.

"You know why they did this. Don't let it break you. Use what you feel. Use that anger. Rage is the best motivation next to revenge." Peter's hand left my shoulder as the words bounced around in my head. He was right. I couldn't let this break me down. I had to be strong. I had to keep fighting, for Erica. Deucalion wanted me to get angry. Well he has no idea what he's ignited.

**[Scott's POV]**

It didn't take long for me to pick up Boyd's scent once I'd collected myself in the bank. Seeing Maggie's emotions flip like a switch kind of sent my head spinning. One minute she was asking me if I was alright and the next she just shut down like a robot. I knew finding Erica dead was hard on her but I honestly didn't expect her to completely check out. Derek explained to me how dangerous it was to have Boyd and Cora roaming around so I couldn't worry about Maggie right now. I heard some kids screaming in the distance and took off towards it. The sound of rapid hearts beating helped guide me to them just in time as Boyd lifted a metal shed clean off the ground just to try and tear into these two children. Luckily for me, when he tossed the shed it knocked over a jar full of fireflies that seemed to distract him long enough for me to scoop both kids up and take off in the opposite direction. I got a few miles away before I sat them down to look them over.

"Are you okay?" I looked from the crying little boy to the shaking little girl.

"That monster...he almost got us." She cried.

"You're safe now but you have to get out of the woods." I explained seeing that neither of them had any injuries. All I could smell was the fear on them now.

"Our house isn't far. Will you please walk with us. I don't want the monster to get us." The little boy begged. Every time they called Boyd a monster I felt a bit taken aback. Boyd wasn't a bad guy. They didn't know him. They didn't know what he'd been through the past few months. They were just kids. I pulled out my phone to call Derek and let him know I'd lost Boyd but he wasn't too happy about that.

"That wasn't really the plan Scott." I could actually hear him rolling his eyes.

"I know which is why I think we should stick together. He's too strong, too fast and way too angry for one person to handle. We've got to do this together." I explained.

"Look I'm at the trails at the entrance to the preserve and Isaac is on his way. Can you meet me here?" Derek asked sounding irritable. I glanced down at the two kids clinging to me and nodded my head.

"Yeah I'll meet you but I have to drop something off first." I said feeling the girls grip on my arm loosen.

"Alright hurry up." Derek hung up and I pocketed my phone. The kids led me towards their house quietly until I saw it come into view.

"Are you...are you one of them?" The little boy looked up me and I nodded softly confirming his question.

"Why was he so angry?" The girl asked confused.

"Someone did something very bad to him. He doesn't know what he's doing which is why I have to find him and stop him before he hurts someone or himself." I explained. The kids stopped in front of their house and looked at me as if they were trying to figure me out. I wouldn't even know what to do if I knew werewolves were real at that age.

"I hope you save your friend. Thank you for saving us." The little girl held out her hand and I smiled at it before shaking it. Her hand was so small compared to mine and that was a reminder of just how important it was to get Boyd and Cora off the streets. I wouldn't let them hurt anyone, I couldn't let them hurt anyone. I made sure both kids were inside with the door locked before heading back towards where Derek told me to meet him. He started to run the moment he spotted me and I managed to keep up with him as we searched for a scent or a trail. We ran as fast as we could, brushing past branches and flipping through trees before Derek finally found a set of footprints.

"Is it them?" I questioned as Derek looked around the muddy area.

"We're not the only ones who decided to stick together." He informed finding two sets of tracks overlapping.

"Is that going to make it easier or harder to catch them?" I asked not sure I really wanted the answer.

"I don't know." Derek's uncertainty worried me. He seemed like his head was all over the place and I didn't blame him but after watching Boyd almost kill two kids, I knew we needed to be focused.

"Derek, I saw Boyd tried to rip two little kids apart. I know you've got a million things going on in your head, with Erica and Maggie but if they're going to do that to everyone they find then we have to get some real help. We can't do this on our own." I watched Derek's face fall as he walked past me.

"My head is here. Isaac is on the way now so let's keep going before we have anymore close calls." Derek started running again and I let out a sigh. I followed Derek until we both heard a growl and knew it was Cora. Derek took a different way around and I jumped over a tree branch to kick Cora away from Isaac who had tried to take her on his own. Once the three of us had cornered her, she took off into the trees once more with Derek and Isaac on her tail. I looked at the girl that was standing frozen by her tent, eyes wide and unsure of what she had just witnessed. She had a much different look than the children had. When I approached her, she started to stumble backwards. I put my hands up letting her know I wasn't going to hurt her.

"Are you okay?" I asked seeing her whole body shivering.

"W-what?" She was terrified.

"Are you alright?" I asked again feeling a bit hurt like I did when Maggie first saw me as a wolf. She nodded her head that she was alright and I stepped closer.

"You need to get out of here. Get out of the woods as fast as you can. Go!" I yelled making her scramble. I backed away from her and pulled out my phone sending a text to Stiles to check on Maggie but I knew I couldn't wait for the response. Not with Boyd and Cora on the loose like they were. I pocketed my phone and took off in the direction Isaac and Derek ran to try and catch up praying that at least things were calm on Stiles end.

**[Stiles POV]**

I looked down at my phone reading Scott's text asking how things were here before lifting my gaze to Maggie as she cleaned Erica's dead body. I couldn't even begin to fathom how to answer his text. Peter hovered closer by her whispering in her ear whenever she started to crumble at the edges but the moment he stopped talking it's like her body would snap back into this cold, distant robotic person and her grooming would become more meticulous. I couldn't pretend to know what she was going through. Sure, I'd lost my mom but I'd never lost a friend like this before. She also wasn't making it easier with putting me at arms distance from whatever the hell was going on with her. I wanted to keep being mad. I really wanted to be pissed at her for doing what she did but watching her silently mourn over a friend that I know she cared deeply for kind of broke my stride a bit. She'd always felt responsible for Derek's pack and to see that one of them was killed would make her instantly take that blame on herself. The Hale guilt complex is something I've become used to by now and it made it hard to be angry at someone who already pretty much hated themselves.

Peter grabbed his coat and started for the door making me spring to my feet. He paused looking at me with confusion.

"Where are you going?" I asked earning a look of annoyance.

"Out. If you know what's good for you, you'll leave her alone. She doesn't need you hovering over her right now." Peter snapped pulling the heavy door open with ease. Maggie looked up at him and Peter gave her a nod like somehow in the off putting silence that he'd been sitting in, Peter had told her of his plans to leave.

"You really think she should be by herself right now?" I gestured with my arm and Peter puffed out his chest.

"Yes I do. You don't know her as well as you wish you did if you think otherwise." Peter pulled the door shut behind himself leaving me to stand awkwardly by myself with my back to Maggie. I turned around slowly and dared a glance at Maggie. She didn't even bat an eyelash as I shoved my hands in my pockets and slowly walked over towards her. The silence that filled the room wasn't just awkward. It was tense. I could see the streaks on her face where tears used to be as she washed the blood out of Erica's fingernails. I jumped slightly when she spoke.

"Why are you still here?" She croaked not even breaking her stride.

"I don't think you should be alone right now." I said honestly.

"I don't think you know what I need at all right now." She shook her head dismissively.

"You're right. I don't but I'm still not going to leave you alone so you can stew in it." I fought against her words.

"Stew in it? You have no idea what's going on in my head so stop pretending you understand." She finally looked up at me with annoyance. I rested my hands on the table on the opposite side of Erica's body.

"I'm not going to pretend I know what you're going through. I knew Erica but I wasn't close with her like you were. I'm allowed to be sympathetic to the situation because I do...care about you." Maggie gripped the sides of the table and hung her head.

"I'm just trying to help Maggie." I followed it up gently but her head snapped up and her eyes locked with mine with an intensity I've never seen from her.

"What?! What do you think you could possibly say to make me feel better Stiles?" She asked in disbelief, her patience finally run out.

"This isn't your fault." I said honestly but she snapped.

"You have no freaking clue how much this is actually my fault which is why you shouldn't be here in the first place." She gripped at her hair roughly and for some reason I could actually feel her pain and anxiety. I wasn't sure if it was because of how intense she was being or because it was mixed with my own feelings for her.

"I'm not going anywhere until you realize that you didn't cause this. The alpha pack killed Erica okay? This blood isn't on your hands-" She stopped me short.

"Yeah except you don't know why they killed Erica." She took a deep breath trying to regain some composure.

"Well they seem pretty evil to me considering they killed a teenage girl, so I'm going to go with that." I explained away simply but she let out a dark chuckle before meeting my gaze once more.

"They were getting revenge because I killed one of their own. She was probably a few years older than us and I slaughtered her without a second thought." I felt my breath catch in my throat at the revelation. Maggie had killed someone? That doesn't sound like her at all. There's no way she could have done something like that. I tried to hold her gaze but I had to shake my head to actually try and remember how to talk again. I was taken by surprise when she walked around the table towards me invading my personal space.

"Now look me in the eyes and try and tell me you know who I am, I dare you." Her eyes were cold and her entire body seemed like it was challenging me to make a move. I wasn't sure what to say or do but I didn't want her to think I was scared of her. I swallowed the lump in my throat and let my eyes flutter a bit but I never looked away from her.

"I don't care who you think you are now or what you've done." I stood my ground but Maggie didn't flinch.

"It's not about what I've done. It's about what I plan to do and that's kill the alpha pack. Every single one of them will pay for hurting my family." The only time I'd seen someone with such rage in their eyes was Peter and just admitting that to myself was terrifying. Maggie blinked away a cringe and I looked her up and down.

"Maggie?" She gripped her head again and fell back into the metal table.

"Whoa! What's going on? Are you okay?" I reached out to her and the moment I made contact with her arm she fell to her knees.

"D-dont! Don't touch me! Don't touch me!" She placed both her hands on the floor and started taking deep breaths.

"Lydia...what's wrong?" She whispered as pain seemed to vibrate through her head. I instantly began to worry about Lydia unsure of how Maggie could even know if something was wrong from all the way across town. Maggie's body stopped shaking like the earthquake in her head had finally stopped.

"Are you okay?" I touched her back and she shrugged my hand off.

"You need to go." She was still trying to collect herself on the floor as I knelt next to her.

"You expect me to leave after-" My phone ringing cut me off and I looked at the screen to see Lydia's name flashing across it. I answered it hearing Lydia's hard breathing.

"Hey are you okay?" I asked confused.

"No I'm not okay! I'm standing next to a pool of blood and a dead body right now!" Lydia cried.

"What?! What happened?" I looked down at Maggie as she rolled over to lean against the pillar in the middle of the room, dragging her knees to her chest.

"I don't know! I just ended up here. Please just-" I cut her off.

"I'm on the way. Just stay out of sight okay? I'll be there as soon as I can. I'm on the way now." I grabbed my jacket and hung up my phone before walking over to Maggie extending my hand.

"Come on, Lydia needs us." I said but she made no move to take my hand.

"Go. I don't need you here." She said without looking at me.

"I'm not leaving you here. Not like this." Her eyes finally traveled up to see me looking down at her and she shook her head.

"Since you can't see what's right in front of your face, I'll break it down for you. I can handle this on my own. I don't need you...for anything and you don't belong here so leave before I make you leave." Maggie threatened. I bounced on my feet not wanting to budge but I knew Lydia needed me. As much as I'd love to challenge Maggie and let her know that she isn't getting rid of me, I had to let her win this battle for now.

"You're right, I might not have a clue what happened to you or what you've done but that doesn't mean I'm going to give up on you. As screwed up as things are between us and as pissed off as I should be at you...I can't just stop caring about you. So push me away, be shitty or whatever you want but I'll always care. Whether you like it or not." I left Maggie sitting on the floor trying to shake the overwhelming feeling of uncertainty with just leaving things up in the air like that. I rushed down to the jeep and took off towards the pool to find Lydia pacing back and forth.

"Lydia! Lydia! Are you okay?" I ran up to her touching her arm to look her over only to see she was visibly shaken.

"I'm okay. but that guy over there, not okay." She breathed nodding her head in the direction of a lifeless body sitting in a lifeguard chair just a few feet from where we stood.

"Yeah I'm gonna call my dad." I reached for my phone to call it in.

"I already called 911." I looked up at Lydia.

"You called the police before you called me?" I asked a bit offended.

"I'm supposed to call you first when I find a dead body?" She questioned right back.

"YES! ALWAYS! GOD! Have you learned nothing!?" I yelled at Lydia and she narrowed her eyes at me. I took a deep breath and started dialing Scott's number.

"I'm sorry that was a bit harsh. Are you okay?" I asked once more earning an eye roll.

"I'd be better if you weren't screaming at a crime scene." Lydia grumbled.

"Stiles? Is she alright?" I knew Scott was referring to his text that I never responded to.

"She's not great but I'm not with Maggie, I'm with Lydia. She found a dead body at the pool. It looks like this guys throat was ripped out so I'm going to assume you haven't found Boyd and Cora yet." My eyes caught sight of the pool of blood surrounding the bottom of the chair and I took a step back.

"Are you sure?" Scott clearly was hoping for better news.

"Yup, throat ripped out, blood everywhere. It's like the freaking Shinning over here. I swear to God if two little twin girls come creeping out of the woods and ask me to play with them, I'll piss myself." I raked my hand through my hair, glancing out into the dark trees over the fence just to be cautious.

"Can you get a little closer to make sure it was them?" Scott asked carefully. I narrowed my eyes confused by the request.

"Make sure it was them? Scott, who else is going around ripping throats out? I mean if there is another threat out there, I'd like to know about it." I honestly don't think I could handle more than an Alpha pack right now.

"Just check please." Scott pleaded, his desperation coming through loud and clear. I grumbled taking a step towards the bloodied body to try and get a good look at the wound without the smell of blood making me nauseous. The wound on the throat looked deep but I wasn't quiet sure if they used a singular claw or not. I remember looking at the pictures of Kate Argent's throat after they found her body and it looked different then this kids throat but that wasn't the strangest thing. The lights of the pool area made the silver purity ring on his hand glisten like it was trying to catch my eye. The blood on his hands dripped onto the ground but there was no blood on the actual ring. Almost like someone put it on his hand as a reminder that he was a virgin. I thought of Maggie and how she said I couldn't see what was right in front of me. Maybe we weren't just dealing with the savage werewolves. Maybe there was a missing piece that I couldn't see just yet.

**[Derek's POV]**

The moment Scott hung up the phone, I knew bad news was going to follow. His heart was beating faster and his anxiety was sky high. It was coming off of him in waves just standing there looking at Isaac and I.

"They found a body at the public pool." Scott finally said.

"That doesn't make any sense. The public pool is on the other side of the woods. We haven't tracked them anywhere near that." I crossed my arms over my chest unwilling to believe that the body they found was because of Boyd and Cora.

"Derek, they killed someone." Scott pressed but I ignored him.

"How are they moving so fast? They can't be that fast on foot!" I argued.

"Derek! They killed someone. Some totally innocent kid is dead and it's our fault." I feel like Scott needed to say it out loud just to feel the weight of that guilt but I didn't need to hear it. I already knew whose fault it was.

"No it's my fault. I'm the one who couldn't handle them. This one goes on me." I met Scott's gaze knowing that he wouldn't allow me to carry that burden alone.

"We need help." Scott said desperately.

"We have Isaac now-" Scott cut me off.

"I mean real help." Isaac's head snapped towards Scott.

"Well thanks a lot McCall. I feel the warmth of team bonding in the face of terror wholeheartedly." I hit Isaac's arm with the back of my hand letting him know the snark wasn't needed.

"They're too strong, too fast and too rabid for us." Scott pointed out.

"We'll catch them." I countered but Isaac snorted.

"Even if we do, what are we going to do with them? Hold them down until the sun comes up? I'm fit to fight but not for 6 hours." Isaac looked between the two of us and I raked my hands through my hair.

"What do you want me to say? That it'd be easier to just kill them?" I threw out there testing them.

"Maggie would kill you for even verbalizing that." Isaac turned his body towards me like he wanted the comment to be between the two of us but Scott interrupted.

"Killing them isn't the right thing to do." I was relieved Scott felt that way but I don't know why I was surprised.

"If we can't even catch them then what can we do?" Isaac asked out of answers.

"We find someone who knows what they're doing. Someone who knows how to hunt werewolves." Scott gave me this look and I instantly knew who he was talking about.

"That's your idea? Ask Chris Argent? We might as well kill them." Scott started walking away from the two of us and Isaac shrugged before following.

"He knows what he's doing and he won't kill them." We trudged through the woods and I shook my head.

"Plus he kind of owes us a favor doesn't he? His dad almost killed Maggie." Scott and I exchanged glances but didn't bother talking about it.

"Just trust me okay? You didn't trust me with the Maggie stuff but trust me with this. For once just...follow me okay?" Scott stopped as we hit the edge of the woods where both of us had parked.

"Fine. We'll try it your way." I got into my car and Isaac didn't dare open his mouth as we followed Scott to the grocery store parking lot. I parked a few spaces back and watched Scott pump himself up to approach Chris Argent. After what he had told me about him and Allison breaking up, I doubt that Argent would do anything to help us. We had made an agreement to go our separate ways the night that Gerard disappeared and I haven't heard from him since.

"So do you think this is going to work?" Isaac finally cut through the silence in the car as we watched Scott approach Argent.

"Nope." It was only a few seconds before he pulled a gun on Scott and his hands went up in surrender.

"Well that went as well as expected." Isaac watched as Scott tried to talk Chris down enough to put the weapon away.

"So...your sister..." I looked over at Isaac as if he must be completely out of his mind. He seemed to read my reaction quite well.

"Alright how about another topic?" Isaac offered.

"How about silence?" I knew it was a simple request but he kept talking.

"Do you think Maggie's really going to be okay? I mean when I left she was like grooming Erica's dead body." I honestly hadn't thought about Maggie since Scott told me about the boy at the pool. I was happy she was at least honest with me back at the vault. I didn't want her to break down either but I knew we would have to face this pain together.

"She's mourning the loss of someone she considered family. What did you expect?" I defended.

"I don't know. I guess I expected her to come with us to save the remaining family. I mean you said one of them was your sister so she's technically gained another cousin." I looked over at Isaac annoyed with all his questions.

"We all grieve differently. We'll get them back and she'll start healing." I said seeing Isaac shift in the passenger seat.

"I hope you're right. So how old is your sister?" Isaac tried to slip the conversation back to Cora and I rolled my eyes.

"Really? Because your relationship worked out so well with Maggie?" I took a jab but he didn't seem too offended by it.

"Just because it didn't work out doesn't mean we didn't make out." Isaac's smirk quickly disappeared when I let my glare linger on him for a moment.

"Due to recent tragedy, I can't kill you but I could still rip your tongue out of your head. You know that right?" I gave Isaac a final warning and he knew I was done fooling around.

"I'll just…be over here…practicing the art of silence." He shrunk down in his seat.

" _Scott, I watched my father brainwash my daughter, almost turn her into a killer. That world, your world dismantled mine. My wife, my sister, my father...my entire family. Why would I ever step foot in it again?_ " Argent had clearly learned from the mistakes that were made but he still made me leery.

" _Because more people are going to die. You saved Maggie's life and I knew you can help us save Boyd and Cora. If not for Derek, if not for me then for Maggie. She's isolated herself this entire summer in order to keep that world from touching all of us and it's swallowing her whole. I can't help her if we lose Boyd. Please.._." Scott pleaded with Argent. He seemed to take a second to consider it but shook his head.

" _I'm sorry, I can't help you_." Oddly enough, I understood where he was coming from. If I could go back in time and stop Maggie from getting involved with the whole Alpha pack business, I would. It has completely wrecked her life and it's my fault. I'm supposed to protect her from things, take on the burdens that surround us but I failed that. She was in this and there was no getting her out easily. I watched Scott get into Argent's car and took that as a sign to follow him. I wasn't sure what Scott planned to do until we made it to the public pool where ambulances and police cars scattered around the crime sign came into view. I caught sight of the grieving parents as Sheriff Stilinski tried to console them. My phone beeped with a message from Scott to follow them back to the preserve, snapping me out of my thoughts.

I parked the car and got out to see Argent still actually carried a bag of tricks in the back of his car, tossing it on the ground.

"Have you been trying to track their steps?" He questioned, Scott kneeling next to him.

"Trying to." Scott said.

"Then you've been wasting your time. There's only one creature on earth that can visually track footprints and that's man. If you aren't trained like me then you won't know that this print is Boyd's and these are-" Isaac interrupted.

"Cora's." He answered simply.

"No those are yours. You trampled Cora's as soon as you walked over here." Isaac stood up straight and looked down at his feet like he was silently apologizing for messing up the prints.

"Look, I know you three are using half your energy resisting your own urges under the full moon but that puts you at a severe disadvantage to Boyd and Cora who have fully given in. They've got the pedal to the floor while you guys are barely hitting the speed limit. I know that Maggie is capable of tracking them with her magic so she might be pretty useful-" Scott interjected.

"She can't...she's with Erica. She didn't make it." Argent eyed Scott for a few moments before looking over at me finally registering my presence.

"I'm sorry for your loss." I gave him a nod and tried to stay focused.

"How do we find them?" I asked trying to keep my head in the current crisis.

"Focus on your sense of smell. Actual wolves are known to track their prey by up to a hundred miles a day by scent. Trained hunter can use scent to trap them. If the wind is with them then a wolf can track a scent up to two miles which means we can draw them to us or into a trap." Argent tossed a net at Scott who started to unravel it.

"The full moon does give us one advantage, they'll have a higher heat signature which makes them easier to spot with inferred." He tossed both Isaac and I binoculars with inferred embedded in them.

"Thanks but I've got my own." I tossed mine to Scott who took a peek inside to see through the woods easier.

"Just remember we're not hunting wild animals. Underneath those impulses, there are two intelligent human beings. Don't think they can't rely on that human side, it's suppressed but it's there. It reminds them how to mask the scent, cover their tracks and how to survive." Argent picked up his bag and we followed him to the cove. The scent of many people were lingering up their as it was a popular spot for teenagers to go and have a beautiful view of Beacon Hills. It all looked so quiet and peaceful but nobody knew what was out there. Nobody knew what could come for them, would come for them if we didn't stop Boyd and Cora.

"When's the last time you saw your sister?" Chris asked me out of the blue.

"Not in years. I thought she died in the fire." I saw him tense a bit at the mention of the fire.

"So you don't have a lock on her scent." He looked away from me towards Scott.

"Scott, how confident are you in your skills?" He asked.

"Honestly, most of the time I try not to think about all the things I can smell." Scott admitted. Argent looked back out at the residential area and sighed.

"Alright the problem is when the breech the woods and hit the residential area. Once they're past the high school they'll be right in the middle of Beacon Hills." I was determined not to let them get that far. I couldn't go back and tell Maggie about anymore lives lost. She was too fragile right now.

"They aren't going to kill everything they see, are they?" Isaac sounded nervous now that we were strapped up and ready to go. I didn't blame him.

"No but there is an important difference to recognize. Wolves hunt for food and at a certain point they get full. Boyd and Cora are hunting for the pleasure of the kill. There's some primal, apex predatory instinct that comes from ripping up warm body's into bloody shreds and there's no telling how that need is met." Argent seemed to be recalling a memory of seeing such a savage attack in his head.

"I'm familiar with that. It's terrifying." Isaac's eyes were on me and I knew what he was referring to. We didn't talk much about Maggie killing one of the alphas but the night she returned, Isaac couldn't sleep because of the nightmares it had given him.

"We can't kill them." Scott must have noticed the look and I met his eyes.

"What if we can't catch them?" I questioned unsure of what our backup plan was.

"Then we contain them. There's no one in the school at night is there?" Argent seemed to be hit with an idea.

"You want to trap them inside?" I asked as he looked down at the school.

"There's a big steal door in the basement. Only one way in and out." Isaac offered.

"Are we sure there's no one in the school?" He turned around to look at the three of us.

"There can't be. Not this late." Scott seemed sure and I hoped he was right.

"Alright then, let's get started." Argent dropped his bag on the ground and pulled out what looked like a solar light that you'd find in someone's front yard.

"These are ultrasonic emitters. It's one of the tools we use to coral werewolves. Pushing them into a direction we want them to run." He pressed the button of the top and a high pitched screeching pierced through my skull like I was suddenly hit with a sledgehammer. I covered my ears and felt my jaw clicking when he looked up. He turned it off and walked us back to his car to retrieve more.

"These are going to drive them to the school?" I asked shaking off the headache I was starting to get due to the sound.

"Yes and then it's up to you to get them in the boiler room." He shut the back of the car after handing us each 4 of the emitters.

"I think we should consider the plan where we make Maggie help us track them down because this doesn't sound fool proof." Isaac commented making Scott huff.

"It'll work." He said confidently before running in the direction Argent mapped out for him. Isaac followed his own marked path and I did the same. I could hear the first few emitters going off as Scott, Isaac and Chris placed them where they needed to be. I tried to drowned out the noise so it didn't distract me but it proved to be difficult. I didn't even hear Peter approach as I placed the last of the emitters.

"And the hunted becomes the hunter. Maggie would be ashamed." I stood up and looked towards him as he came out of the shadows.

"Aren't you supposed to be there providing support? She is your daughter or so you keep telling me." I gritted my teeth at him and he rolled his eyes.

"I am providing support or knowledge where it's clearly lacking. You really think a couple of high tech dog whistles is gonna help?" He tested.

"I don't see you offering a hand or knowledge to be honest." I said without looking at him.

"Personally I'm trying to cut down on futile endeavors besides my vested interest is only in the well being of my daughter, not the people who weigh her down." Peter's arrogance would usually be followed by Maggie correcting him but I didn't have that luxury currently.

"Cora's alive." I said simply seeing no change in his demeanor or interest.

"I heard. Let's throw the reunion party when she's not an unstoppable killing machine." He took steps towards me.

"I can stop them." I started to walk past him but he stopped me.

"Sure you can. By killing them. Which happens to be the point of this little exercise. Let me remind you that Deucalion wants you to kill them, he wants you to get rid of his baggage so it's easier for you to join his pack. The fact that it was supposed to happen in the vault instead of out here in the open doesn't change his plan. It just means Boyd and Cora are going to kill a few innocent people first." I kept my eyes on Peter watching as he slithered his way closer, trying to get inside my head. He'd been doing it all summer now that Maggie let him back into our lives. It was something I'd grown used to.

"The only way they'll excuse what Maggie did is if you agree to become part of that pack. In order for you to do that, you have to cut the weak links on the team, Derek. It's not as hard as you make it seem." Peter shrugged.

"I should be okay with that? Letting them kill innocent people or killing my own pack." Saying it out loud sounded absurd to me but for some reason he never thought a life was worth anything.

"Come on, Derek. What's a few homeless people? We live in shades of gray. We survive doing what we have to. Just because you kill them doesn't mean you aren't an alpha. You can always make more werewolves. Think about our family." He leaned down and turned the emitter on for me.

"I am thinking about family...my family." He rolled his eyes at me as I took off towards the school. I couldn't think about Deucalion or Peter right now. I had to get Boyd and Cora back. I had to bring them home.

**[Lydia's POV]**

Once the Sheriff had arrived and taken my statement, Stiles insisted on following me home. However he not only followed me home but inside my house and up to my room. He even carried my purse for me.

"You didn't have to follow me home, Stiles." I turned the light on and sat down on the end of my bed.

"I just wanted to make sure you got in okay." Stiles shrugged, tossing my purse next to me.

"I had a police escort." I reminded him but he snorted.

"I know the inner workings of that force, alright? They're not nearly as reliable as people think." Stiles defended himself making me laugh.

"Well you also didn't have to follow me into my room." I looked over at him and watched his jaw drop a bit as he searched for another excuse.

"Well I didn't...yeah I don't have an answer for that. I can leave." Stiles started to back out of the room.

"Stiles...what's on your mind?" I pressed so he would just spit it out already. He bit his bottom lip and laced his fingers together.

"You mentioned before...about staying in contact with Maggie this summer. You're connected somehow, more than just being friends." Stiles eyebrows furrowed.

"She's been trying to help me figure out why I get the sensations I get. For some reason we are connected. I think it might have something to do with the night we were both attacked. Maybe Derek's uncle transmitted something between us, I don't really know but she's been helping me...and I've been trying to help her so yeah I guess you could say we're connected." I watched Stiles expression turn into a frown.

"Is she still keeping her distance?" I cut through his thoughts and he looked at me.

"Erica was killed. She's not handling it well and I don't know how I can help her. It's like she wants me to just give up on her and let her suffer by herself. She told me something pretty heavy tonight and I'm not even sure how to wrap my head around it. I just...my head is all over the place right now." Stiles ran his hands down his face before plopping down in the chair opposite me.

"I can understand her trying to protect me or whatever but it's like she's going out of her way to make me feel like...like I'm useless. Like she doesn't need me or want me around. It's like she wants me to hate her or something and I totally should for how she left things this summer but I can't." Stiles clasped his hands in front of himself and rested his elbows on his knees.

"She does need you." I said softly but he chuckled.

"She actually told me she didn't need me or want me there before basically threatening me so I think you might be a bit off on that." I wasn't surprised to hear that Maggie was being aggressive with Stiles. I knew she was terrified of him getting wrapped up in whatever she was doing this summer and from the little bit that I knew, I was sure that Maggie herself was terrified.

"I feel like an asshole because the one person to get me through the Maggie diabolical is missing and I haven't focused enough on her because I've been so worried about Maggie. I just need to find out who took her and why. I don't want her getting hurt in all this, not because of me." Stiles was struggling with a lot of emotions right now and I could see the anguish on his face.

"And the whole thing with Peter-" I cut him off.

"What whole thing with Peter?" I asked curiously. I knew Maggie had agreed to keep an eye on him but she hadn't given me much information regarding what he'd actually been up to and I needed answers now more than ever.

"She's calling him dad now. Can you believe that? After everything he's done, after what he did to her...she was more welcoming of him than she was of me and that just...that freaking sucks." Stiles looked over at me seeing that I was rubbing my temples.

"I'm sorry I just unloaded on you like that. I'm sure you're exhausted after the whole stumbling across a dead body and all that. I'll just-" He used his thumb to point towards the door.

"I have no clue how I ended up finding that body. I didn't even know where I was until I got out of the car." I explained making Stiles stop.

"The last time something like this happened-" I stopped him.

"I know. Maggie promised me that she would keep an eye on him this summer but I don't know just how close to him she's gotten." Stiles stared at me for a few moments before his cell phone rang. He looked at the screen and sighed.

"It's Scott's mom." He chewed on his lip and I waved him off.

"I'll be alright, just go." I said seeing that he was struggling with the decision to leave in the middle of our conversation.

"Call me if you need anything. I mean it." Stiles pointed at me with his phone still ringing and I gave him a nod. He got all the way out of the door before peeking his head back in.

"Hey Lydia...thanks." I smiled a Stiles feeling pretty good about actually being helpful for a change. I might not know what's going on with myself but it felt good to be able to help someone else out. I laid back in my bed and took a deep breath. It was hard to focus on anything without any real answers to the millions of questions I had running around in my head. It was exhausting and mind numbing to the point it was almost too painful to function. All I wanted was to figure out what the hell was going on with me.

"Are you okay?" I jumped hearing a voice break through the silence and Maggie stood near the window.

"Jesus! No I'm not okay. You need a bell on your neck or something." I sat up and pinched the bridge of my nose.

"You had another episode. I felt it again." Maggie took a few steps towards me but made sure to keep her distance. I knew that her abilities increased when emotions were high.

"Stiles told me about Erica, I'm so sorry." Maggie looked down at her feet.

"I just came by to check on you. Two episodes in such a short time span isn't good. I figured you'd feel pretty shitty." Maggie stepped forward and put her hand on my head seeping the ache behind my eyes out through her palm. She barely flinched as my pain entered her veins and when I blinked away the daze it had left me in, she removed her hand and took a step away from me.

"You didn't have to do that." I said grateful. She just gave me another nod.

"I should have come sooner." Maggie didn't ever take me giving her gratitude well but I figured it was because I didn't ask for it and she insist on taking the pain away. She wasn't looking for thanks.

"I'm fine, really. Stiles seems like he needs you more than me." Maggie's eyes fell from mine and I could see she was still trying to pretend like he didn't matter.

"Something strange is going on. Something he's trying to figure out. He needs you right now." I pressed earning a sigh.

"I'm the last thing he needs." Maggie didn't look at me as she stepped towards the door. She kept putting distance between us as if she were about to flee or something.

"You know what? I listened to your excuse all summer and it was plausible then but now it's just ridiculous. You're hurting him on purpose now." I insisted seeing her start to wrap her arms around herself at my sudden brutal honesty.

"I'm not trying to hurt him. I'm trying to protect him. Erica's dead because of me." Maggie argued but I remembered my conversation with Stiles. The hurt look on his face when he talked about Peter.

"And what about Peter? Rubbing your new ridiculously domestic relationship with him in his face is you trying to protect him." I questioned seeing her expression change to a bit more defensive then it was before.

"Look I know you're upset and you have every right to be but I'm telling you, whatever is happening with you it has nothing to do with Peter. I've kept an eye on him like I said I would." Maggie shook her head.

"Yeah but you seemed to have forgotten how much he's hurt all the people you care about in the process. You want to protect all of us, stop pushing us away and keep us close." I gave Maggie a moment to let reality slap her in the face before standing up and stepping towards her.

"Why do you keep doing that? You know I'm not going to hurt you." Maggie snapped at me.

"Maybe I'm afraid of hurting you!" Her body started to shake. I wasn't sure if it was with anger or terror.

"The people that care about you the most...Scott...Stiles...they aren't afraid of you." I stepped towards Maggie letting her know how I felt.

"I'm not afraid of you." I said firmly but Maggie's posture change. She closed off entirely and her face hardened.

"You should be." She hissed. I pulled back slightly not recognizing the girl that she'd suddenly slipped into in mere seconds.

"Lydia? Honey are you home?" My mom's voice made me turn my head towards the door long enough for Maggie to slip back out the window without so much as a sound but a slight breeze that ruffled the curtains. I looked out of the window to stare at the moon again as it still hung, full in the sky as a taunting reminder that despite it's illuminating beauty, it cursed half the people in Beacon Hills.

**[Scott's POV]**

By some miracle, our plan was actually working. We managed to lead Boyd and Cora all the way to the school without anyone else getting hurt. Chris, Derek and I managed to corner them in one of the hallways before we led them down to the boiler room. We crept around in the darkness before silently moving towards the door to lock them inside. Derek leaned against the door, feeling the push of Boyd and Cora as they tried to get out but it was no use. That door wasn't going to budge.

"I can't believe that actually worked." I said leaning against the wall. Derek chuckled making me realize I don't think I'd ever actually heard Derek make that sound before.

"Me either but it did." He said in amazement. We both stood there trying to catch our breath.

"What do we do now?" I asked unsure of where we go from here.

"Wait for the sun to come up, then take them home to start healing." Derek pushed away from the door and leaned against the wall behind me, closing his eyes. I stepped up to the door and listened in to see what Cora and Boyd were doing.

"What do you hear?" He asked me.

"Heartbeats." I started to listen harder hearing something a bit off.

"Both of them?" He sighed. That's when I heard it. It wasn't just Boyd and Cora thrashing around with heavy heartbeats but one single, slow beating heart was in the midst of all that chaos.

"Actually, I hear three of them." I turned towards Derek and he got to his feet immediately. We both tuned into what was happening behind the door and when a voice called out, it confirmed our fears. Derek stepped in front of me, gripping the door handle.

"What are you doing?" I asked with fever.

"Close the door behind me and keep it shut." Derek didn't face me as he steady himself on his legs to prepare for what was behind the door.

"Hey if you go in there alone, you're either going to kill them or they're going to kill you. Both those options aren't something I want to explain to Maggie." I put my hand on Derek's shoulder and he glanced back at me.

"I have to try for Maggie. You don't understand what it's been like. Losing Erica is just the beginning. I can't...I have to try." Something about the way Derek struggled to explain why he felt so compelled to risk his life was unnerving. I knew things were bad during the summer but I was starting to think they were much worse than I previously suspected. Before I could argue anymore, Derek opened the door and slammed it behind himself. I locked it like I was told and listened carefully, silently praying that Derek came out of this alive. I heard growls and I knew when the fight started. It took everything in me not to open the door and help him.

"Come on Derek! Come on!" I gritted out. I heard feet stop at the top of the steps and looked up to see Maggie.

"Where is he?" She asked seeing me leaning against the door.

"WHERE IS HE SCOTT?!" She shouted running down the steps towards me. She pushed me away from the door and listened into the room.

"DEREK!" She screamed going for the lock but I wrapped my arms around her tightly.

"NO! NO LET ME GO! DEREK!" She thrashed against me trying to get to the door but I squeezed as hard as I could. I knew I couldn't hurt her and I had to try and let Derek do what he asked me to do and that's try.

"Scott if he dies, I'll never forgive you!" I could feel Maggie's fear and rage mixing together as she kicked off the wall to try and back me into the one opposite us but I twirled her away so she couldn't get any leverage on me. I thought about what Derek had said before he entered the room to face his fate. All he had to do was try, for Maggie.

"I know you think I don't understand, I know you want me to back off but I'm not going to do that. You can hate me and you can try to hurt me but I'm not going to stop trying. Do you hear me? I'm not going to stop trying." My lips were practically on top of her ear as I tried to convince her that there was no point in fighting me because I wasn't going to just let her walk out of my life. We were family whether she liked it or not. She eased slightly when Isaac yelled that the sun was finally coming up.

"Shhh! Stop...just stop." Maggie stopped thrashing as we listened into the room and didn't hear anymore fighting. I tried to count the heartbeats but Maggie took the opportunity to use my distraction and open the door.

"Maggie wait!" I rushed in behind her with Isaac on my heels but almost knocked her down when she stopped dead upon seeing Derek. He was on his knees, covered in blood with Cora and Boyd's bodies lying motionless on either side of him. She ran towards him and fell to her knees.

"Derek! What the hell were you thinking huh? Locking yourself in here with them!? That's the stupidest thing you've done in a long time." Maggie's voice was raw like she was ready to break down but Derek's eyes fluttered weakly when she stroked his face.

"I'm fine, look at me okay? I'm fine." Derek tried to reassure Maggie but clearly he had no idea how he actually looked. I was shocked he was still able to move his lips to form a sentence after doing a face off with two rabid wolves.

"There's a teacher, I'll take care of her but I need you to get them out of here." Derek looked past Maggie towards Isaac and I.

"I'm not leaving you here by yourself Derek. You can barely stand." Maggie argued.

"Do you think I don't know you're already healing me? I can feel it Maggie." Derek started to get to his feet and she helped him lean on her.

"It's not nearly enough. You need rest." Derek pushed off of Maggie and stood on his own now taking a deep breath in before gripping her shoulders.

"I'm going to need you to get Cora and Boyd settled in at the loft. I will be home as soon as I can. I promise you, I'll be fine. You can heal me all you want once I get there." Derek said gently.

"Is this you pulling rank again?" Maggie questioned ready to fight but Derek merely kissed Maggie's forehead.

"No this is me being your big brother and asking you to trust me. Help get them home so we can start our healing, please." He said one last time before Maggie nodded taking a step back.

"Get out of here. Go!" Derek pressed as I picked up Cora and Maggie helped Isaac carry Boyd. She kept looking back at Derek but he gave her a nod to carry on. We got them up the stairs and out to the parking lot to load them up. I stepped away from Derek's car when Stiles name came up on my phone.

"Hey man, we got em." I heard Stiles sniffle on the other end of the line.

"Scott...I need you to meet me at the hospital." I could tell just by listening to his voice that something was wrong.

"Are you okay?" I asked moving frantically to the driver side of Derek's car as he paused to sniffle again.

"I found Heather...meet me in the morgue." Stiles hung up before he got upset again and I jumped into the driver side making Maggie look at me through the window.

"What are you doing?" She asked confused as I started the SUV up.

"I need to get to the hospital. Stiles needs me." Maggie didn't question me. She just jumped into the passenger seat and put her belt on as I sped off towards the hospital. The ride was silent but I didn't really know what to say anyway. When I parked the car, Maggie didn't move.

"Are you coming in?" I asked her but she nodded her head.

"I can't just leave Cora out here. Just...hurry up." She rushed me. I shook my head at her before jumping out and shutting the door. I couldn't drag my feet because of Maggie. Stiles needed me. When I pushed the doors of the morgue open, I could see Stiles leaning on one of the tables where a body was lying. I immediately recognized it was Heather and put my hand on his shoulder.

"I'm so sorry man." I broke the tense silence and Stiles wiped the tears from his face.

"Your mom said she was brought in the other night. She called me in about the guy we thought Cora and Boyd killed because he had the same injuries. Someone slit her throat, took a wire to her neck to strangled her and bashed her in the head too." Stiles explained.

"So Boyd and Cora didn't kill anyone?" I questioned totally thrown.

"You're going to wish they did." He sighed.

"Why?" I was still trying to get him to look over at me but I didn't need to see his eyes to know he was pained.

"I'm not really sure yet but the other girl that was out in the woods, Emily, eventually they're going to find her. She's one of them. Emily, Heather, the guy Lydia found at the pool. All three were virgins." Stiles leaned off of the table and I saw his hands were shaking as he tucked them under his arms.

"They're all gonna have the same three injuries. Strangled, throat slashed and head bashed in. It's called the three fold death." Stiles explained.

"So if these aren't just random killings then what are they?" I asked confused. We had prepared ourselves for the worst, thinking maybe Boyd and Cora killed some innocent kid but now we're talking about some sort of serial killer?

"Sacrifices. Human sacrifices. I don't know if this has to do with the pack that's after Derek or not but someone is out there sacrificing humans, Scott." Stiles finally looked over at me. It was then I think we both realized that we didn't really know anything about this alpha pack and what they were capable of. We didn't know what their end game was but we know they didn't hesitate to kill Erica.

"Scott, I've got to-" Maggie pushed the door open and paused when she saw that we were standing over a body. She walked in slowly keeping her eyes on Heather and Stiles jaw tightened.

"It's Heather." I informed her but something tells me she already knew.

"What happened to her?" Maggie's eyes wandered over the slash over Heather's pale throat.

"Stiles thinks she was a sacrifice." Maggie's eyes finally left Heather's body and landed on Stiles face as he fought more tears.

"She was only 17 for 18 hours. She wasn't supposed to be apart of this. She wasn't supposed to be apart of any of this." Stiles bit his lip before covering Heather's body up with the blanket.

"Stiles…I-" Stiles wiped his tears away before Maggie could say anything.

"Hey don't worry about it. It's not your problem right?" Stiles eyes fell on Maggie for only a moment to glare before he kicked the door to the morgue open roughly and left us standing there. Maggie closed her eyes tightly and let out a heavy breath. I stepped closer to her making her open her eyes quickly as I invaded her space.

"Is this something the alpha pack would do? Are they just trying to get to you guys or is human sacrifice something they could possibly be doing on the side?" I questioned making Maggie shake her head.

"I honestly can't say with certainty. But I'm going to find out who did this." She said firmly. I could tell she had a lot of regrets behind her eyes but I knew she wouldn't go after Stiles.

"Go home Maggie." Her eyes softened a bit. I didn't tell her to go home because she looked wrecked and could probably use a month long nap but because there was nothing she could do for us. She had made her bed with Stiles and now she had to lie in it. She knew I wasn't going to give up on her but right now, I could only mourn with one friend at a time. These days I felt like all I ever did was chase after people. The days of summer reading lists and extra shifts at work doing normal teenage things were clearly over. War had returned to Beacon Hills and there was no way to get out of the fight now.


	5. Moondust

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sorry I haven't been updating this. There are lots more chapters on FF.net but I'll try to be better at keeping this current.

**[Scott's POV] ******

The week following Erica and Heather's deaths was eerily quiet. Stiles had to attend Heather's funeral and decided he needed to do it alone so I hadn't heard much from him. Derek had texted me to let me know that they were all safe and back at the loft but when I asked him how Maggie was doing he didn't have many positive things to say. To be honest, he didn't say much about her. Just that he was doing the best he could to make sure they were alright. The only thing I could do was focus on work and school so I didn't fall behind. It seemed like no one really needed my help anyway.

Work was a bit more stressful than school though. Deaton had come clean about the summer and I couldn't help but be put off by it. He knows that I'd do anything to help Maggie but he seemed justified in feeling the way he felt. We would have only served as a distraction he said. I wasn't sure I believe that. She had grown cold and aggressive. It was scary how much I didn't even recognize her when I looked right at her. Everything about her felt off. Her scent had even changed dramatically. I all I could smell now was anger and pain. The only thing it reminded me of was how Derek smelled when I first got bitten.

"I know you're quite perturbed with me however I need your help putting together some important vials." Deaton broke through my thoughts and I shook my head trying to snap out of it. He handed me a combination of things from the medical remedies he usually only used on me so whatever he was making seemed to be for a werewolf.

"When Maggie first agreed to her training, I was the one who told her she'd have to put you both at arms length. It was harder than you think. She had to make arrangements with Nathan to leave town for a bit which luckily coincided with his job pretty smoothly but no matter how much I tried to get her to focus the first few weeks, she couldn't. It wasn't until she found out about Erica and Boyd did she realize how little time she had to learn the things she needed to learn before it got bloody." Deaton spoke as I took the vials from him. There were about twenty in the tray waiting to be filled but I wasn't sure with what exactly.

"You are worried that she is too far gone and you're right to be nervous. The thing's she went through, the things she had to do...they're things that would change anyone. The ice baths for her were more for her own peace of mind than for figuring out the memories that they had stolen from her. She was robbed of something and that piece of herself is still missing in action. Once you let the darkness in, it's hard to find your light. That's why it's important for you and Stiles to keep trying with her. You are her light. You have to help her from being consumed." I looked up at Deaton annoyed.

"Don't you think it would have been easier to just keep her grounded while she was going through all of that? It's going to be harder to pull her back when she desperately can't stand the thought of us getting involved in all of this." I said bitterly. Stiles had told me about her confession the night we found Erica.

"Is it true she killed one of them?" I asked for confirmation.

"Yes it's true but she didn't just kill her, she slaughtered her." Deaton's words made me tense.

"She had watched them hurt Issac and they were torturing her. I have a strong feeling that Deucalion knew what he was doing when he left Laci in there with Maggie. He knew she wouldn't walk out of that room." Deaton explained.

"But why? Why would he want one of his alpha's to be killed?" I questioned confused.

"He wanted to pull Maggie's anger from her. He feeds on her rage and her strength. You all are only mildly knowledgeable of just what Maggie is capable but she is the only one of her kind. If Maggie ever decided to use her power for evil, she'd be unstoppable." Deaton seemed terrified to admit that out loud and for the first time, I actually felt like I could fear Maggie.

"I can't believe she killed someone. I just keep trying to wrap my head around all of this. You keep saying I can help somehow but I just don't see how." I grew short with Deaton who walked towards me.

"You think that if I would have kept you involved, she wouldn't have gotten so deep in all of this but you're wrong. She would have done everything the exact same. The only difference would be that you would have thought she was a monster. Sometimes to save lives, you have to do things that make you just has cold as the people who do the harm." Deaton said putting his hand on my shoulder. I felt bad for putting all the blame on Deaton. He was trying to help Maggie and I was taking it out on him.

"Scott I know that it's hard to understand-" He started.

"No I get it. You were helping her and I appreciate that. I just wish there was something I could do to help her too." I caved guiltily.

"You are helping actually. This is the medicine that I use to treat Maggie's current ailments." I looked down at the purple liquid and gave him a nod. At least I was helping her in one way even though I was just sort of piggy backing onto Deaton's good deeds. I smelt Isaac before he entered the clinic but didn't bother looking up. Deaton took the vials from me and moved to back room as I cleaned up the work station. I imagine he was giving us some privacy.

"Hey…I didn't know you'd be here." Isaac cleared his throat.

"Well I work here so that's kind of a given. Didn't think you'd be the one to pick something up for her." I shrugged. I wasn't angry at Isaac but I was kind of envious that he could be apart of what was going on and I couldn't, not without Maggie wanting to rage on us.

"She's not really up to leave the loft currently." I looked up at Isaac worried. He seemed a bit on edge like he hadn't gotten enough sleep.

"Why? What's wrong with her?" I asked growing tense.

"She's been using most of her energy to heal Boyd, Derek,Cora and I." Isaac took another step closer to me but it was hesitant like he could feel my mixed emotions with him. Of course he could.

"We also buried Erica the other day so she's not doing so well." He rubbed the back of his neck and I finally met his gaze to see sadness in his eyes.

"Is there anything I can do…for any of you?" He looked at me surprised wondering if I was being genuine with him as I pulled the gloves off my hands.

"Unless you know how to time travel, probably not. I don't see anything getting better at home anytime soon." Isaac finally let his guard down enough to sit at the table in front of me.

"What's Derek doing about it?" I asked seeing him shrug.

"Mostly he's just been trying to figure out where Cora's been all these years, catching her up on everything that's happened with Peter and Laura which has got her pretty determined to hate Maggie but he's not letting her bother her right now." Isaac explained.

"What about Boyd?" I watched Isaac's eyes grow sadder as he paused.

"He hasn't come out of it yet. Maggie's been by his side taking care of him every second of the day waiting for him to wake up. Derek said it was probably the trauma of it all." Isaac scrubbed his thumb over an invisible spot on the table.

"I was listening to you talk before...about what Maggie did...her killing Laci." I swallowed the lump in my throat as he brought it up.

"She did what she had to do but that night. That night changed her more than anything. I was doing the best I could to keep her feet on the ground during her training this summer but that night I lost my grip. We both did." I wasn't sure how I was supposed to respond. I couldn't imagine what side of Maggie Isaac saw that night but the way he looked right now made me think it scared even him.

"Deaton is right. You and Stiles are the only thing that can possibly pull her out of this. I know things have always been sort of forced with us but-" I cut him off getting up from the table.

"No they aren't forced. You are important to Maggie which means you're important to me. I'm here for you and I've got your back man." I clapped my hand on his shoulder and he bobbed his head in a silent thank you.

**[Maggie's POV] ******

I wiped the warm cloth delicately over Boyd's forehead and made sure to get his neck as well. He laid perfectly still in my bed, a single sheet fell just below his chest as he rested like he'd been doing since everything happened. We had to go ahead and give Erica a burial without him since he was taking so long to recover. Derek explained that when you lose a pack member, it's like losing a limb but losing a mate made that pain run so much deeper. My heart physically ached for Boyd. The more I thought about everything, the more I just wanted to break but I knew I couldn't. That wouldn't bring Erica back and it wouldn't help pull Boyd out of this. All I could do was power through it.

 _"Don't tell me to calm down Derek! I don't even know this girl and you want me to trust her!"_ Derek had been trying to catch up with Cora for the past few days but it would seem she had it out for me in a big way. She didn't bother me though. I knew as much about her as she knew about me so she had a right to be weary. The feeling was mutual but Derek was trying to play middle man. He had been trying to take care of me the moment we all got back to the loft. Bringing me food, hawking me about going to school, reminding me to shower. I didn't need him to take care of me and he knew that. Eventually I would eat something even if it was small and my showers were something I took when I knew everyone else was asleep because it was the only place I felt like I could cry if I needed to but I hadn't yet. I didn't cry when we placed Erica in the Hale family mausoleum. I didn't cry when Derek started to break down as we sat next to one another to heal Boyd. I hadn't cried since we found Erica's body to be completely honest. The few tears I got to shed made me feel so out of control and helpless that I didn't let myself go back there again. I couldn't. Not while the alphas were still living and breathing. I glanced over at Erica's ring that I'd given her. Her blood was on it and I knew that the moment I touched it, I would latch to her and I was terrified to pick it up. I knew I had to. I needed to know what happened in her last minutes. I felt like I deserved the burden of that pain because she wouldn't be dead if it weren't for me.

I heard Isaac return with my injections and the ranting and ramblings of the three got louder. I caressed Boyd's cheek knowing that he couldn't hear them because of the soundproofing on the walls but their voices were driving me crazy.

"I'll be back. Just rest." I whispered to him before kissing his forehead. I shut the door softly seeing Isaac pace below.

"Why are we even bothering with her if she's Peter's daughter? He killed Laura." Cora growled earning a frustrated sigh from Derek.

"She's family no matter what Peter's done. His crimes don't bleed into her, don't be stupid." He dismissed his little sister as if she were being childish but I could see why she'd dislike me. Guilty by association.

"Plus she did kind of save your ass so maybe you should be a little gracious." Isaac spoke up clearly not liking what Cora was trying to do.

"I didn't need her help. I could have healed on my own. She doesn't even realize how weak she becomes just to heal people who don't need it." Cora was right. I'd grown weaker since healing all of them from the months of trauma and Derek from the fight at the school. I was long overdue for some rest but I knew I couldn't rest peacefully just yet. Not when some much was left undone.

"Now that we have you and Boyd back, she'll have time to heal. Things will get back to normal." Derek couldn't truly believe that. I knew he hoped for it along with several other things that were farfetched but he didn't really believe everything was suddenly better now that we had them back.

"Fat chance of that happening. There's still that giant target on Maggie's back for killing-" I finally made my presence known and cut him off.

"I understand you all want to chit chat but Boyd is trying to rest and he can't do that with you all running your mouths." I said sharply. Derek's eyes widened.

"Sorry we didn't know you were-" I looked at him tensely.

"I don't need you to fight my battles for me. Either of you." I glance over at Isaac who chewed on his lip but that gave Cora the window she needed.

"That's good because you and I need to have a chat." I let out a sigh and gestured towards the chair opposite me before plopping down.

"What is it that you'd like to know Cora?" I asked exhausted.

"Maggie you don't have-" I put my hand up stopping Isaac.

"Please go sit with Boyd. I don't want him to wake up alone." I asked sweetly earning a simple nod before he eyed Derek and did as I told him.

"You seem pretty comfortable giving orders for someone who isn't the alpha." Cora sat down at the table finally trying to establish her dominance.

"It wasn't an order, it was a request. Isaac is family and so is Boyd. I'd do anything for them. It's a mutual respect thing." I explained earning nothing but a hardened gaze.

"Mutual respect? How does a girl who's been a wolf for all of five seconds comprehend what pack respect is? This is a joke. This whole set up here, hiding away and licking your wounds. The only thing you've seem to accomplish is make my brother soft which will probably end up getting him killed but as Peter's daughter, I'm sure that would just further your agenda." Cora jerked her head at me violently looking for some sort of confession.

"I'm sure at least Laura was smart enough to see it coming." She added trying my patience.

"I'm not Peter! I have no agenda and I'm sorry you got wrapped up in all of this but jump out of my ass!" I pulled at my hair wishing I was anywhere but right here.

"Wrapped up in all of this? I was kidnapped and held hostage because of you! Boyd is up there trying to recover because of you. Erica is dead because of you!" Cora shouted the truths that I had to wake up to and live with every single moment of every single day. I didn't need her to remind me of the nightmare that I created for everyone. It was my reality.

"I know! You think I don't know that?! You think I like all of this happening to other people instead of me? I'd throw myself in front of them every day if it meant everyone I cared about would be safe but that's not the world we live in. I can't change what's already happened." I slammed my hands down on the table feeling Derek shift uncomfortably.

"It's not like I asked Peter to kill Laura so he could ruin my life!" I added pushing away from the table only to hear Cora huff.

"Peter killed Laura so he could become the alpha and turn you into this twisted abomination." Cora gestured to me with disgust.

"You act as though there isn't blood on your hands but my sister's death is your fault. All of this is your fault and you somehow think that you're saving us by mending wounds and making promises of vengeance which you know you can't attain without a pack. You're a stupid child." Cora yelled but I had had enough of being guilt tripped. I threw my hand out suddenly sending the heavy metal table skidding across the floor abruptly. She was clearly caught off guard as she jumped backwards.

"Keep running your mouth and I'll show you just how stupid a child I am." I growled but Cora didn't back down, extending her claws and fangs just before Derek could jump between us.

"Alright that's enough, from both of you." Derek had his back to me and put his hands out to grab Cora's clawed ones.

"You can't always save her ass Derek. Sooner or later she'll have to answer for all the cocky bullshit that falls out of her mouth." Cora pushed Derek with her arms making him release her wrists.

"You both seem to have a problem with running off at the mouth. Take a walk, Cora." Cora's jaw dropped.

"Are you freaking-" He cut her off.

"Now!" He raised his voice at his little sister making her shake her head at him before tossing one more glare in my direction and heading out onto the balcony. Derek spun around to look at me with disappointment.

"What the hell were you thinking? You know better than to use magic against us. We're family!" He raged.

"I was thinking I don't need someone reminding me that this is all my god damn fault Derek! She's right, I don't know her and she sure as hell doesn't know me. She's lucky I didn't toss her ass out the window." I felt my blood pressure rising and my heart pounded in my ears until Derek grabbed my arm.

"Hey! Look at me okay? Take a breath." Derek no longer looked angry with me but worried. I'd prefer he be pissed off.

"I'm fine Derek!" I pushed him away making him take a step back.

"You need to get out for a little bit. Get some fresh air or something." Derek grabbed my keys and tossed them to me.

"I'm not leaving Boyd." I said tossing them back but this time Derek's anger was coming back.

"Yes you are because the moment you become violent towards us is when you need to take a walk. It's about time you checked up on Nathan's place anyway." Derek tossed the keys back to me more forcefully this time.

"So what? You're kicking me out for throwing a table at your sister?" I questioned with a chuckle.

"I'm telling you to take a walk for throwing a table at a pack member. I know how stressed you are right now but you can't take that out on us." Derek held his ground.

"We're all feeling-" I felt my blood boil.

"Don't! I'll go just stop trying to comfort me. I don't need it." I grabbed a jacket and tightened the laces on my boots before I noticed the flowers sitting on the table. They actually made me pause at how beautiful they were.

"Where did those come from?" I asked walking over towards them. It was a nice arrangement of white lilies which meant they were sympathy flowers.

"Isaac brought them up. Apparently they'd been delivered this afternoon." Derek said as I pulled the card from the table.

_With my deepest sympathy, sorry for your loss- S.S_

The card was handwritten in his handwriting and I crumpled it in my hand. Even after losing his own friend Stiles had still managed to send flowers for Erica. Something about the gesture made me angry. I knew he wouldn't have done it maliciously but I was already on edge.

"I won't be gone long but if something with Boyd changes, I'd appreciate a phone call." I slammed the heavy door shut behind myself with a simple flick of my wrist letting Derek know that I wasn't going to stop using my magic because it made him feel intimidated. I am what I am. I didn't pick this life. He'd have to deal just like I had to.

The drive to the lake house had me on edge. I hated being away from Boyd and having Derek be irritated at me as if I would have hurt Cora. Yeah she was proving to be kind of a bitch but something tells me I got it honest. Nathan's boat still wasn't docked and the car sat idly under the tarp just as he'd left it before. Walking inside I recoiled from the smell of stale air and collecting dust. I really should be visiting more frequently just to keep the house clean for his return but it didn't hold many positive memories these days. I decided to go ahead and clean up a bit to try and keep my mind busy but the more I cleaned, the more I could remember the dinner we all had months ago before everything went to shit. Before the torture, before I took off, before Erica and Boyd were captured. Everything was perfect that day. It was one of the only moments I'd had in this place where I actually felt happy but now it just felt bittersweet. I showered the grime and exhaustion from my skin feeling refreshed for the first time in days, letting my muscles relax in the scalding water. I don't know why I decided to start pulling clothes out of the closet and tossing them in a bag for Cora. It's not like she deserved them or would even want them but at least Derek would know I'm actually making an effort and not one to murder his only living sister.

I grabbed up the bag and tossed it over my shoulder sending whatever was sitting on my desk clattering to the floor. I let out a sigh feeling completely uncoordinated just from leaving the loft. I looked down to see what I had destroyed with the bag and stopped. It was those stupid walkie talkies. Just when I got Stiles out of my head, he made sure he jumped to the forefront of my thoughts. I thought of the flowers he'd sent for Erica. As if flowers would make the pain of losing her any better. I felt the crumpled card in my pocket and let my anger carry me back out of the house, making sure to lock up the memories inside with the broken walkie talkies.

**[Stiles POV]**

I walked up the stairs to my room slowly feeling like today was one of the longest days ever. Heather's funeral was about two hours ago and I was emotionally and physically drained from it. I'd never had to go to a funeral for someone so young, especially not someone I'd known so long. I tried to help her parents after the service but Heather's mom had about four sisters who seemed like they were on top of things. Even though I tried really hard to keep it about Heather, I couldn't help but think of Maggie. Heather's aunts made me think of Karen and that got me wondering how Maggie was holding up with losing Erica. They had to have buried her by now but even Scott said he hadn't heard from anyone in Camp Hale. I tucked my hands into my dress pants feeling the coolness of the key chain Heather's mother had given me. Apparently Heather was saving it for my birthday and she thought it was only right for me to have it now. I shut my bedroom door and put the key chain on my computer stand before slowly pulling the buttons of the dress shirt open. It was a nice day out which I felt appropriate because of what kind of girl Heather was. She was bright and sunny. She didn't deserve the gruesome end she met. She didn't deserve any of this. I tossed the tie on the chair and felt a breeze hit my neck as I put the dress shirt in my hamper. It hadn't even dawned on me that I hadn't opened the window so to say I nearly had a heart attack when I turned around to see Maggie standing at the window would be an understatement.

"Jesus Christ!" I grabbed my chest seeing that my jumping had zero effect on her. She just stared at me with a blank, confused face like she was trying to figure out what I was.

"Is there a reason you didn't use the front door? I'm pretty sure you actually have a key." I reminded her suddenly feeling very aware of everything that was in my room. She pulled out a crumpled up card that had flowers on the back.

"You sent these to the loft." She said like it was some sort of accusation.

"Yeah? I'm pretty sure it says so right on the card." I pointed to it and she tightened her grip only further crumpling it.

"Why?" She asked simply.

"Why did I send flowers to the loft or why did I attach a note?" I answered her question with a question which seemed to annoy her further.

"They are condolences Maggie. That's what you do when someone loses a loved one. You send your condolences." I explained.

"Why? What good are flowers when someone you love is dead. They don't stop the pain. They don't bring that person back. They just stand there in a vase doing nothing. They aren't a comfort. They're an annoyance. The colors and textures that go with a sweet smell that overwhelms you. The beauty of them is shoved in your face in the event of such a horribly ugly mess and somehow people think they console you." Maggie was clearly a lot more upset about the situation then the actual flowers. I took a step towards her and she gave me a look that made me stop.

"I'm sorry if the flowers upset you. I wasn't close with Erica but I did care...I do care." I said genuinely.

"It doesn't matter now. She's dead and so is your friend and we're still here picking up the pieces and carrying on to fight the good fight or whatever the hell those uplifting jackasses would say." Maggie dismissed any soft sentiment I thought she might have for me.

"Then why are you here Maggie? I mean, not that I mind you actually acknowledging my existence but if you're not looking for comfort then why are you here?" I asked confused. She held the note up again and tossed it on the bed.

"Whatever killed Heather wasn't the alphas but I can't go after it until I finish with the alpha pack. They're too strong and too anxious for me to take my eyes off them right now." Maggie explained.

"What does that have to do with me?" I pressed but she tilted her head to the side.

"I know you Stiles. You're going to try and get to the bottom of things and you'll only get in the way." She said making me cross my arms over my chest.

"I resent that." I said in all seriousness but she just shook her head.

"Do you understand that this isn't a game." She advanced on me this time making me rub the back of my neck like I was preparing to be scolded for disappointing someone.

"Yeah Maggie I'm capable of understanding that this isn't a game. People are dying. Innocent people. I just buried a friend of mine so yeah I understand perfectly." I said making sure she knew I wasn't joking. I knew things were dangerous. They'd been dangerous since the moment Scott had been bitten but this was all crazy to the tenth degree.

"Good then you understand that there's nothing you can do to prevent it. This is not your fight and you are not equipped to take on a threat blindly." I looked at her in shock. How could she basically just call me weak like that. Like I was some stupid kid who would only end up getting myself killed. I'd survived this long in all this shit, I could handle my own.

"So what are you saying? Just let it happen?" I questioned unsure of just what she wanted me to do if I wasn't at least doing some research.

"No I'm saying just get out of my way and let me handle it. The alpha's didn't kill Heather but I promise you I'll find out who did and make them pay." Maggie grew more intense just mentioning vengeance and it kind of worried me.

"How can you just ask me to trust you like you've made it so easy?" I felt a nagging pull in my chest when she made her promise to me. I cleared my throat trying to get the feeling to go away but it wasn't going anywhere. She let out a heavy sigh tilting her head at me.

"Please don't make me come back here again. I can't focus on what needs to be done if I have to worry about you getting in the middle of this." Maggie's gaze went over my shoulder and I turned to the door just as it opened.

"Hey kiddo who you talking to?" Dad asked looking around the room. Maggie had disappeared back out of the window without so much as a goodbye and I let my head hang for a moment.

"No one…I'm talking to no one." I said simply. Dad eyed me before deciding to leave me alone. I flopped back on my bed and raked my hands down my face. Everything was so messed up and complicated, I felt like I was trapped in a roller coaster I knew was going to derail. There was no way to stop things and Maggie was right. There was nothing I could really do. I had been researching virgin sacrifices for the past few days but the only thing that really came up was the preparations of war which didn't make me feel any better. I couldn't sit on my hands though. Not after watching Heather's parent's move like zombies around their house trying to figure out what to do with the huge void they're left with now that their daughter is dead. I couldn't let that happen to anyone else. I pulled open my laptop and opened the files I'd collected on human sacrifice. If the alphas weren't behind the killings then the possibilities of more sacrifices was great and if the trend was virgins then I was definitely on the murder menu.

**[Derek's POV]**

I cleaned up the kitchen as Cora paced behind me staring out of the window. She pouted in silence knowing I didn't want to hear anymore about how much she didn't like Maggie. Truth is I was just glad to have my sister back. I didn't care if she like or got along with Maggie because eventually they'd work it out. Blood is blood at the end of the day. They were too much alike to hit it off right away, I knew that and they would figure it out too.

"You know I remember her right? She's not a complete stranger." Cora broke the silence.

"I remember what mom told you." Cora added making me turn around to look at her.

"You were just a baby yourself, you couldn't have remember-" Cora cut me off.

"She said that she was special, that she was the strongest and that she would need you to protect her." Cora said making me squint at her.

"You protect her heart from getting broken and show her what it truly means to be a Hale, that's what Mom said. What the hell does it even mean to be a Hale anymore? Most of us are dead and the ones living are only skirting it because it hasn't quite caught up to us yet." Cora joked darkly.

"How do you remember that?" I asked curiously seeing her shrug.

"Because it was the first time I'd ever really been a bit jealous that I'd have to share you with someone other than Laura. You're my big brother Derek. I was a stupid kid." Cora brushed it off and I nodded my head.

"I'll always be your big brother Cor." I walked towards her and she rolled her eyes.

"Yeah yeah. Now I just have to share you with some-" Cora was cut off when the door jerked open.

"Bitch who picked up some clothes for you to wear. Unless of course you want to live out of big brother's henley's?" Maggie tossed a bag on the couch and walked into the kitchen not even bothering to look at Cora. I could smell Stiles on her and followed her into the kitchen as she grabbed something from the refrigerator.

"You went to see Stiles." I said making her huff as she took a drink from a bottle of water. She didn't say anything but merely gave me a look that told me she didn't want to talk about it. When it came to Stiles, she never really did talk much after the first few weeks of hiding. It was too hard for her. I didn't press her too much about it. I didn't really know what to tell her. The only true love I ever experienced in my life had all ended horribly. What could I possibly say to comfort her?

"Why do you have jeans this long if you're so short?" Cora questioned rudely.

"Really Cora? How about thank you?" I insisted but Maggie waved her hand.

"They were shorter, I used a spell to make them longer. You don't look like a capri's kinda girl." Maggie teased earning a twisted face from Cora.

"Guys!" Isaac yelled from Maggie's room and the three of us ran up the stairs to see Boyd sitting up with his feet on the floor. Maggie pushed past me and sat in front of Boyd.

"Hey! How are you feeling?" She asked reaching out but being cautious about touching him just yet. He shook his head slowly like he was trying to shake the remnants of a headache away.

"You're safe now. You're okay." I spoke firmly making Boyd look over at me.

"None of us are safe." He finally spoke and his voice was hoarse. Maggie offered him some water and he took a sip slowly, letting her wipe the water droplets from his chin with her index finger.

"I know you probably aren't ready to talk about any of it-" Boyd cut me off.

"What's there to talk about? They kidnapped Erica and I...then they found Cora. They...they killed Erica and the only thing that stopped their plan was you and Scott showing up. I remember every moment we spent locked up in that vault. Every full moon, every scream of pain, every tear that was shed...I wished I could have woken up and forgotten but I remember. I will always remember." Boyd's body tensed. The four of us just shared looks like we had no idea what to say or do to comfort him.

"What did you do with her?" Boyd looked up at Maggie and she sort of floundered.

"Maggie cleaned her up and we buried her in the Hale mausoleum. When you're ready, I can take you there." I stepped closer to him seeing a bit of relief on Maggie's face.

"It's probably best that we just let her parent's think she's out there somewhere." Boyd said clasping his hands together in front of himself. There was a beat of silence where we all just sort of stared at him before he finally sighed.

"She was so brave. Everything they put us through, it was hard not to completely fall apart but she held up better than anyone. I just...I can't get her screams out of my head. It's like they knew my weakness was her and making her feel that pain directly tapped into my own. I couldn't stop it. I couldn't help her. I couldn't save her." I watched a tear roll silently down Maggie's cheek making her tilt her head down to hide her face.

"I'd like to go home now." Boyd said shifting on the bed.

"Are you sure? There is plenty of room for you here." Maggie said frantically.

"I just want to be home. I need to kind of get away from all of this for tonight." Boyd explained looking back at me. I gave him a nod of approval.

"Isaac can drive you." I said tossing Isaac my keys. Isaac seemed surprised but he hadn't driven it yet and I knew he really wanted to so it was a win-win. Boyd looked back at Maggie and put his hand on top of hers.

"There was nothing you could have done. She went out fighting like you told her to. You would have been proud." Maggie's face turned into a frown forcing her emotions to stay at bay but before her face could break, Cora rushed up to them and helped Boyd up.

"It's getting late, we should get you home if we're going." She helped Boyd with his boots and Maggie backed out of her way. Isaac helped Boyd out of the room, grabbing his jacket and hooked his arm behind his back to support his weight. I watched the three of them leave Maggie's room and she had her hands over her mouth.

"Maggie." I reached out to her but she jerked away from me.

"Come on-" She started to dodge around me and I knew exactly where she was going.

"Don't Derek! Just don't!" She slammed the door heading up to the roof of the complex, slamming every door she could until she reached the top and taking in a huge breath like she was having trouble catching hers. I knew there was nothing I could do or say to make Maggie feel better or calm her down so I just stood by the door and watched her pace the roof top. When she fell to her knees and gripped her hair tightly, I gripped the door handle. I have no idea why I did it, it was as if my body was preparing for something subconsciously. Maggie reared her head back violently and let out a blood curdling scream that pierce my head so badly, I actually covered my ears. I watched her body shake with intensity that shook the trees in the distance and made thunder clouds roll in the sky above like her pain was in control of the weather. If Maggie's powers had grown this much in such a short period of time then there was definitely a storm brewing that might take us all out.


	6. Bleeding Heart

**[Scott's POV]**

I woke up out of a dead sleep last night to what sounded like a howl of pain but it happened too quickly for me to even try to pinpoint where it was coming from. I thought about calling Derek to see if everything was okay but I knew it was too late and if something was really wrong, he'd call me. The entire weekend had been so strange. I even got in a few extra shifts at the clinic but the kid who brought his dog by kind of disappeared which I knew couldn't have been a coincidence. Deaton said he would keep me posted if the owner turned up or he heard anything strange but I knew I had to focus on the important things no matter how difficult it was going to be. Now that we were finally back at school, something felt weirder than usual. Like there was something hanging in the air that none of us really wanted to talk about. I still hadn't talked to Maggie but I knew the deal she had with Derek which meant she would be back at school today.

"Have you seen Isaac today?" I asked curiously making Stiles pause as he was changing into his gym uniform.

"No but thanks for jinxing me. He's like the last person I want to start my day with seeing. Now get back to the guy at the clinic. Did he say he was in a rush or did he just disappear?" He questioned trying to get me to focus on the conversation we were previously having.

"He didn't seem like he was in a rush but if he was, I'm sure he would have at least taken his car. He left everything behind, including his dog. It was really weird." I explained fixing my clothes in my locker and grabbing my hoodie.

"Okay, could he have been a virgin maybe? Did he look like a virgin, like you know…virginal?" Stiles was still worked up about thinking that the murders were virgin sacrifices clearly.

"No definitely not. Deaton makes me have sex with all his new clients. It's a new policy." I watched Stiles face freeze for a moment almost considering what I had just said before he pulled the unimpressed face he normally pulled whenever I was the one making the jokes. I tried laughing at it myself but that only further seemed to annoy him as I pulled on my jacket.

"No Stiles. I don't know if he was a virgin. That's not really something you introduce yourself with when you're having your dog dewormed. Plus we don't actually know if he's dead yet so stop talking like he is." I leaned in closer to Stiles so no one would hear us.

"Yeah missing and presumed dead. You want to know why? Because he was probably a virgin, Scott. You know who else is a stupid virgin? Me! I'm a virgin. You know what that means? It means that my lack of sexual experience is now literally a threat to my life. This is all Maggie's fault! We could have been having all the sex this summer. So much of the sex but you know what she did? She bailed on me." I cringed as Stiles had his meltdown. There was no doubt people had heard him announce that he was a virgin.

"I need to have sex like right now. Someone needs to have sex with me like today, like someone needs to sex me right now!" Stiles slammed his locker door shut but before I could get him to calm down, Danny slid up behind him.

"Alright, I'll do it." He smiled at Stiles making him jump and squawk as he turned towards him.

"…what?" Stiles asked as if he'd heard Danny wrong.

"Come to my place at 9. Plan to stay the night, I like to cuddle." Danny smirked at Stiles as he looked between Danny and I.

"That's so sweet, are you kidding?" Stiles asked sincerely.

"Yes! I'm kidding." Danny walked around to his side of the lockers making Stiles huff out annoyance.

"You really shouldn't toy with a guy's emotions like that Danny! It's really unattractive." Stiles defended as I patted his back. He shook me off knowing that I had laughed just moments ago at the teasing offer.

"I swear you and Maggie are the worst couple ever. How did you go all summer and not at least experiment a little?" Danny asked making my eyes go wide.

"Maggie and I aren't a couple. We're…complicated." He explained making me roll my eyes.

"More like a conundrum. You guys are way beyond complicated." I pointed out earning a wide eyed huff.

"Really? You want to use some of your SAT words against me when your love life is so going so swimmingly?" Stiles fought back just as Isaac came pushing into the locker room in a rush apologizing to the coach.

"Don't you have to have a love life to refer to it, Stiles?" Isaac poked at Stiles the moment he was close enough to say anything and I knew that wouldn't sit well with him.

"Ouch, point to Lahey." Danny held out his hand and got a fist bump from Isaac as he started to change his clothes. I shook my head and tried to hide from Stiles glare.

"You don't get to laugh at that. Especially coming from him." He pointed at me with a warning finger.

"I'm sorry man but maybe Isaac can help." I held my hands up in defense and watched his face contort at the suggestion.

"You want Isaac to ask Maggie to have sex with Stiles? That sounds way too weird for me to even inquire further." Danny pulled his shirt over his head as Stiles rolled his eyes.

"Yeah you guys are hilarious." He leaned against the lockers waiting for the coach to instruct us where to go but Isaac cleared his throat.

"I'd love to help. Hey Maggie, would you do Stiles a favor and have sex with him?" Isaac looked past us towards the door making us both turn around to look. We didn't expect Maggie to be standing there but there she was, bag over her shoulder, pen and paper in her hand waiting for the coach. She shook her head at all of us before giving Isaac the middle finger and walking away.

"Guess you got your answer." Isaac shrugged pulling a long sleeved shirt onto his torso.

"It wasn't a no, exactly." I couldn't help but laugh out loud this time as Stiles banged his head against the lockers. I looked away trying to train my ears on Maggie and the coach in the office as they talked.

"I understand you had a rough summer but there's no gym exemption." Coach explained to her.

"I'm not trying to say that gym isn't important Coach, I just have a lot going on at home and-" Maggie stopped herself.

"Nevermind. I'll figure it out. As far as helping with lacrosse next season, I'll have to think about it. I don't know if I'm going to stick around here that long." I felt tension in my stomach at the thought of Maggie leaving again. She hadn't mentioned anything about it but then again she hadn't really said much to me to begin with. The coach reemerged from his office and Maggie didn't look back as she walked out towards the girl's locker-room. I walked over to Isaac as he put his stuff into his locker. He had a hefty bag he'd shoved underneath it that smelled like dirty laundry.

"Hey, how are you guys holding up?" I asked curiously.

"As good as we can be I guess. Boyd is kind of doing his own thing but Derek said he would need his space. I don't know when or if he's even going to try and come back to school. The only reason Maggie's here is because Derek is making her. She was desperate enough to try and use making a grocery list as an excuse to stay home. Didn't work out." Isaac shut his locker and looked over at me.

"I heard her mention to the coach that she might not be here by the time lacrosse season rolls around. Are you guys planning on splitting or-" Isaac shook his head making me back off a bit.

"I think it was more of a life expectancy warning rather than a sabbatical. We're not dealing with rouge hunters, Scott. These alphas have infiltrated every part of our lives. Did you expect her to be planning for prom?" Isaac seemed pretty pessimistic as the coach told us to make our way out to the blacktop outside. Stiles rejoined my side and nudged me.

"You good?" He asked noticing my frown.

"Yeah I guess. I think maybe one of us should try talking to Maggie about the whole alphas situation again. Isaac talks like she doesn't plan to make it out of this whole thing alive." I explained seeing Stiles not seem too worried.

"You know how indestructible she is. Besides she already made a special trip to my house to warn me to stay out of it. What else can we do?" Stiles asked walking ahead of me out of the locker room. I chewed on my lip not wanting to back away and let Maggie handle it on her own.

I figured I could catch her on the trail but once we got out there, I didn't spot her. It wouldn't make much sense for her to tell coach she'd participate and then skip out so I assumed she was still in the locker room. I saw Isaac bend down to tie his shoe but before I could approach him, the twins walked up on either side of him like they were taunting him. This was the first time we'd spotted them since Erica's body was found so I know that pain was still raw. The moment the whistle blew, Isaac jumped to his feet ready to pounce.

"Isaac wait!" I put my hand on his shoulder stopping him.

"It's them!" He snarled before shaking me off and running after them. I looked around for Stiles and knew that I couldn't wait for him. I had to keep Isaac from doing anything stupid. I had to push through a few people trying to catch up and managed to lose sight of all three of them. I listened carefully trying to find Isaac's heartbeat which always seemed somewhat erratic. It wasn't his heartbeat that I had picked up on first. It was the growl. I could hear the scuffle and the rapid pounding of heartbeats as I ran.

"Ethan, I always forget. How many bones are in the human body?" Aiden asked. I could see them now. Ethan had a hold of one side of Isaac as he fought from his knees against their hold.

"I don't know. Let's count." Ethan replied but before he could lay into Isaac, I threw a punch into his jaw as hard as I could sending him to the ground. Aiden released Isaac immediately allowing him to roll back to his feet. The twins took a few steps back and snarled at us. I did the same knowing that I was in for a fight but at least this time it would be fair. Isaac gave me a nod letting me know he had my back but a scream pierced through the trees. I glanced in the direction that it came from and took off. I was surprised that they actually followed me. I came to a stumbling halt next to Stiles who was staring at a tree in shock. I could hear his heart beating loudly as I surveyed what he was staring at. It was like the air had been knocked out of me.

"That's him, isn't it?" Stiles looked away from the bloodied body to look at me. All I could do was nod. The guy from the clinic had been murdered and tied to a tree in the woods. I've never actually seen something so brutal. The leash for his dog Bullet was tied around his lifeless body and I couldn't help but think about his family he had told me about just last night. Stiles moved toward the body to examine something when a voice stopped him.

"Don't. Don't touch him." Maggie had appeared next to Isaac but she kept her eyes on the twins. I wasn't sure if they had done this or not but they seemed just as confused as the rest of us. The Sheriff came running up the hill towards us trying to herd everyone away from the body. He had one of his deputies trying to get everyone to back up but I think everyone was so baffled by what they were seeing, it was hard to move. One of our classmates had been murdered brutally.

"Dad look! See! It's just like the others!" Stiles pointed out to his dad.

"Yeah I see that. Do me a favor and get back to school alright?" Stiles looked at his dad like he was surprised he would turn him away from this investigation. Sometimes I think Stiles forgot that his dad wouldn't ever really want him involved in his work. I mean, kids were being slaughtered. Of course he wouldn't want him to be apart of this.

"Coach, a little help here?" The Sheriff asked making the Coach walk over towards us.

"ALRIGHT! YOU HEARD THE MAN, NOTHING TO SEE HERE! Probably just some homeless teen." He looked the body over.

"Coach, he was a senior." The Coach sighed and covered his mouth.

"Oh god...he wasn't on the team was he?" He questioned making me roll my eyes.

"KYLE! OH GOD! KYLE!" A blonde girl came screeching past the deputy trying to get to the body but she was restrained. She sobbed like she knew him on a pretty personal level. It was unnerving to think that anyone had to see someone they loved like this. My eyes fell to Maggie as she wrapped her arms around herself and chewed on her lip. She looked over at me like she could feel my gaze and immediately hardened herself. She started walking away and I followed after her with Stiles and Isaac on either side of me.

"Did you the way the twins looked at him?" Isaac asked.

"Like they had no idea what happened?" Stiles answered.

"Nah nah, they knew." Isaac was clearly swayed but I couldn't blame him. He spent the whole summer battling with the alphas and I had no idea what he went through but I wasn't sure if this would be something the alphas were involved in.

"The kid was strangled with a garrote, am I the only one recognizing the lack of werewolftitude in these murders?" Stiles threw his arms out as he continued to argue with Isaac.

"You think this is a coincidence they show up and people just start dying?" Isaac defended but before Stiles could rebut, Maggie spun around.

"Can both of you shut the hell up please?" She rubbed at her temples.

"You okay?" I reached out to touch her but she pulled away looking over at Isaac.

"Where the hell were you? You didn't wait for me back there." Maggie gestured towards the school.

"I'm sorry but they provoked me. I had to-" Maggie cut Isaac off.

"You went after them alone? Are you completely brain dead?" Maggie took a step towards Isaac and he backed away just slightly as if he was afraid.

"I wasn't alone. Scott had my back." Maggie now looked over at me.

"Is that supposed to help your case here?" Maggie questioned not even bothering to address me.

"While I'm all for Isaac getting chewed out, you said it yourself. This isn't something the alphas would do." Stiles gestured to Maggie and Isaac was the one crossing his arms over is chest now.

"Oh really? You don't think the alphas are capable of murdering someone? What about you Scott?" All three of them were looking at me now as I tried to figure out just how shitty it was going to be when I picked a side because I knew that's the position they were all putting me in. Well not Maggie. She didn't really care where I landed on anything at the moment as long as I was out of it.

"I don't know yet." I shrugged.

"You...you don't know yet?" Stiles crossed his arms over his chest mimicking Isaac's stance.

"Well he has a point. Seriously dude, human sacrifices?" I pointed out how farfetched that idea was but that only made Stiles tenser.

"Scott, your eyes turn into yellow glowsticks, hair sprouts from your cheeks and will instantly disappear and if I were to stab you right now, which is becoming more of an urge I'm having to resist the more you talk right now, it would magically heal." Stiles started to check his tone because of how many eyes glanced over at us.

"Maggie's a 5 foot nothing force of freaking nature and you want to tell me the idea of human sacrifices is hard to grasp?" Stiles put it into perspective as Maggie paced in front of us, looking as though she was worried someone would hear him.

"He also has a point." I looked over at Isaac who was now grimacing.

"I don't care. They killed that kid, they killed that girl who saved me and I'm going to kill them too." Isaac asserted confidently.

"Now we're just gonna kill people without sound evidence that they're the guilty party?" Stiles narrowed his eyes at Isaac.

"I don't care about proof. They don't deserve to live." Isaac raised his voice but before I could calm him, Maggie stepped into his space.

"So you go after them alone? How stupid could you be? You know what they're capable of, they nearly killed you twice." She clenched her teeth reiterating how reckless Isaac was as she poked his chest with her fingers. Isaac was angry but Maggie seemed more furious with him for being so careless. He took a deep breath before dipping his head slightly towards her.

"They killed Erica. They have to pay." He gritted.

"I know what they did but I'm not ready to bury you too!" She raised her voice now silencing all of us. Luckily everyone else had already made it back towards the school so no one heard her. She took a step back and shook her head as we all stood there stiffly.

"Maggie's right. We can't face them alone. We have to stick together." I spoke up finally. I was too uncomfortable with the lingering silence but the moment Maggie's gaze snapped towards Stiles and I, I regretted it.

"I think I've made myself very clear with the both of you to stay the hell out of all of this." She had turned her fury onto us instead of Isaac.

"Maggie…we need their help." Isaac reached out to Maggie but instead of pushing him away like she had done to me, she simply put her hand up stopping him.

"The next time either of you gets involved, the alphas will be the least of your worries." She held my gaze for a second before walking past Isaac. He gave me a look that said he had to go with her but it was one of the last things he wanted to do since she was throwing out threats like that. I watched her walk back into the school with Isaac trailing behind her trying to talk her down but she didn't budge.

"Did she just threaten us?" Stiles asked surprised.

"She's just scared. She wouldn't hurt us." I said shaking my head.

"Why don't you sound so convincing?" Stiles started towards the school and I followed. All I wanted in the world right now was to get inside Maggie's head to see where she was at. IT was like staring into an hollowed version of her. No matter how hard I tried, I felt like she was just out of reach.

**[Derek's POV]**

It was strange how quiet the loft was now that Isaac and Maggie were back in school. According to the schedule Nathan had given to Maggie a few weeks ago, he was supposed to be docking sometime this week so it couldn't have been a better time for her to go back. She seemed jittery trying to put herself together but she put all her focus into a grocery list she kept trying to compile. I knew she was still caught up on Boyd wanting to go home instead of stay here with us but I understood his grief. Sometimes you just had to get away from the people that reminded you of what you'd lost. It was only a matter of time before she started channeling it into aggression like Cora had. She'd been working out nonstop since she was able to get back on her feet. I could smell her pain in the air from how hard she was pushing herself but trying to argue with her was like trying to argue with a wall. I did not envy my parents at all thinking about raising two daughters. Between Cora and Maggie, the thought of having my own kids someday was completely pushed to the back of my mind.

I noticed a text book sitting on the floor next to the couch and let out a sigh as I checked the clock on the wall. I pulled out my phone and hit Maggie's name. When she finally answered, she sounded winded.

"Yes Derek I'm at school currently trying to put myself together so I don't look like a walking trashcan. Is there something I can help you with?" She asked impatiently. I tried not to let her know I smiled.

"I was just checking up on you to make sure you're alright and let you know you forgot your French textbook here." I said hearing her sigh.

"It's probably Isaac's. I'll just let him use mine unless he decides to further piss me off today." She dismissed quickly.

"Why did he piss you off? What happened?" I questioned. They seemed fine this morning when they were rushing around to get out of here.

"You seem pretty worried for someone who practically shoved me out of the loft." She sassed but I imagine she could hear my lips purse through the phone. I was a fan of her snark except for when she used it against me.

"I'm fine Derek. I told you that I would call if I needed anything. I'm about to go talk to the guidance counselor about some stupid impending evaluation. I'm probably going to need you to sign something because I'm not doing school therapy." I could hear the eye roll over the phone.

"Have you heard anything from Boyd yet?" She asked hopeful.

"No not yet but I told you that he'll need some time to heal. Losing a member of your pack is-" I started but she interrupted when I didn't have the answer she was looking for.

"I know I just...I worry." I visualized her leaning against her locker and shrugging the defeat as if she could get it to leave her body that way.

"I know you do. You get it honest. Listen to me okay? We spent all this time trying to get Erica and Boyd back. It didn't go like we'd planned but that mission is over okay? We still have to deal with the Alpha's but we can't stop living our lives while we fight against them. Just try and keep your head focused and I'll see you after school." I had been trying my hardest to try and provide some kind of legit parental guidance to Maggie. Anything to keep her from going to Peter but I had no idea what I was doing. My parents were strong and loved us but I wasn't prepared to take all of this on. I knew I had to try but I always felt like I came up short most of the time.

"I thought I told you to stop reading those parenting books. I don't need anymore daddy issues, I just need to know if we have milk." I chuckled softly as I walked to the fridge to double check the milk situation.

"I told you you didn't need to go to the store. I can do that." I pressed.

"Keeping myself busy with stupid necessities helps get my mind off of attending school with the monsters that killed Erica. Milk or no?" She asked with a sigh this time.

"Yeah grab some milk." I felt my throat get a bit dry at her brashness.

"I'll be home after the store. I just caught Boyd's scent, I've got to go. Don't let the Coranator break my heavy bag." Maggie said before hanging up abruptly. I pocketed the phone and sat the text book on the table just as Cora got to her feet.

"Do you really think you're the most fit candidate to try and parent her?" She sniped.

"I'm her guardian-" Cora laughed.

"No some guy named Nathan is her guardian but even without him, Peter is her actual father so I don't see why you're trying so hard." Cora started doing jumping jacks.

"She's family. I'm going to be there for her no matter what. The same way I'm here for you, the same way Laura was there for me." She glared at me when I mentioned Laura. I knew deep down inside she blamed me for Laura's death, even if it was a fraction of the blame.

"That's a joke. You can barely take care of yourself, Derek. What do you possible think you can offer her? Or any of us for that matter?" Cora snapped.

"Love." She stopped doing jumping jacks.

"We both know I suck at relationships but I've never had a problem with loving my family. Mom and dad, you and Laura..." Cora shook her head at me like she was done with the conversation. She went back to doing her pull up's on an overhead bar and I rolled my eyes.

"Stop overdoing it. You're not done healing and you know it." I pressed growing annoyed with all the teenage angst.

"Yeah well I'm done lying around." She got down from the bar and started doing push-ups. It reminded me all too much of when Maggie got captured the first time and how hard she pushed herself to make sure she was ready for the next time she came in contact with the alphas.

"Then sit." I walked closer to her as she disregarded my instruction.

"Are you going to help me go after them or do you have a PTA meeting you have to get to?" Cora provoked. I stepped forward just slightly to kick her arm out from under her, sending her onto her back. She looked up at me for just a moment with annoyance before jumping to her feet and throwing her arms at me. She was exhausted. I could feel it in every punch she tried to throw that I could block. I wasn't going to fight her. She knew that but I also knew how angry she was.

"Come on! Fight back!" She yelled in my face as I pushed her arms away. She looked aggravated.

"I came back for this? I can't believe I got my ass thrown in a vault for three months for you just to come back and see you've gone soft." I'd been gut punched many times but never by Cora and never with words.

"A powerful new alpha, one of the Hale's. Do you know how long I've waited to hear something like that? Do you have any idea how it felt to find out that you were actually alive?! You're barely even you anymore Derek! What happened to you?!" Cora's voice held pain that made me think of mom. I wondered if she'd be as disappointed in me as Cora was.

"I'm sorry to disappoint you." I apologized pathetically. Before Cora could comment on the state of my pitiful response, the alarm started to blare. I had rigged it for when intruders tried to enter the loft without any legit assess.

"What the hell is that?" Cora asked confused as the door started rolling open.

"Trouble." I readied myself for what was behind the door and wasn't surprised to see Ennis hunched and ready to fight, teeth bared and eyes glowing red. Cora growled back at him before taking off into a full on sprint.

"No…CORA WAIT!" I shouted after her but it was too late. He'd already choke slammed Cora onto the concreted floor.

"Ready for a rematch?" He taunted me but as I stepped towards him, Kali came waltzing in. She threw her leg out to try and claw me with her feet and I ducked. She was fast and agile but her ego was easily bruised when I caught her leg the fourth time she tried to claw me. I tossed her but she somehow managed to land on her feet. She jumped up and yanked one of the pipes from the ceiling down, twirling it towards me until it caught my chin. I stumbled back, not expecting the hit when she struck me on the back with such force I fell on my face. The piercing of the pipe she impaled me with made me howl out in agony. I could heart Cora's heart beat skip before it sped up. She was terrified. I couldn't do anything. I was on my hands and knees, trying not to focus on the huge hole that was now gushing blood onto the floor. I heard a tapping sound and knew it was Deucalion.

"Everybody done? Just listening to that was exhausting." He made his way down the steps slowly.

"I figured the best time to come and chat would be while the kiddies were in school. I know Isaac has quite the temper and we both know how special Maggie is. So let's chat, shall we?" He took a seat in front of me as Kali twisted the pipe making me cringe.

"Sorry about this Derek. I asked Kali to be gentle but-" She cut him off.

"This is me being gentle." She twisted once more and I tried to keep my breathing even.

"L-let her go." The only thing I could focus on was Cora's heart beating loudly. I was too afraid to focus on myself because of the pain I was feeling.

"Even when you're in such a predicament, you worry about your pack. It's admirable Derek." Deucalion mocked. All it took was a simple gesture and Ennis released her. She ran for me but I shook my head at her, pleading for her to stay back. Her fear was the only thing that made her listen to me. Any other day, she'd have argued. If only she knew how much her and Maggie were alike.

"What do you want? If you're here to kill me-" Deucalion huffed.

"Do you really think I'm that boring? Don't lump me in with sociopaths like your uncle. I'm a man with far more vision than simple murder. In fact, I'm here to show you just how much vision a blind man can have." I could feel the intensity of his gaze. Kali twisted the pipe as if I didn't give him the attention that he deserved and blood started to seep out of my mouth.

"You're killing him!" Cora shouted worried.

"Not yet little sister but I could. To be safe though, you should get started Duke." Kali dug one of her claws into the side of my leg and I groaned.

"You see that's one of the problems with being in an alpha pack. Everyone wants to make the decisions. Me on the other hand, I'm more about discovering new talents. Like you for insistence." He explained.

"Not interested." I muttered spitting out more blood.

"You didn't even hear my pitch." Deucalion whined.

"You want me to…kill my own pack." The goal was to stay conscious at this point. I kept my eyes closed to focus on keeping myself calm. I couldn't let myself bleed out and I couldn't keep going through the pain of the wound trying to heal around the pipe. It was driving me nuts.

"No I want you to kill one of them. Do that and I won't even have to ask you to kill the others. You'll do it on your own. I did it, Ennis did it, Kali did it. It's a feeling like no other. Tell him what it's like Kali, to kill one of your own." He urged.

"Mmm liberating." She hummed with such satisfaction, I had no question why Maggie tore apart one of their own.

"Listen Derek, you really want to stay beholden to a bunch of maladjusted teenagers bond to become a liability. Not only to you but to your family. Believe me, they will become a liability. I have a feeling one of them is getting themselves into trouble right now." I instantly became worried about Isaac and Boyd. All I could hope is that Scott was there to keep them straight.

"Enough about them though. Let's stay focused. You see, the reason I'm so invested in finding new talent is simple. We all know a pack is strongest due to its individual parts. The stronger the individual parts, the greater the whole." Deucalion had folded up his cane just to flick his wrist and put it back together again like he was using it as a demonstration.

"You're the Hale alpha. That means something to a lot of people. You have a specific breed of power that you can harness. That's what makes you special however you aren't the only one I want." I felt a hand run over the back of my head, yanking my hair so that my face was now visible. Deucalion ran his hand over my face and I kept my eyes shut.

"You're right Kali, he does look like his mother. I once told Maggie she had some of your mother's features as well. I wonder if she's aware of just how much of a Hale she truly is." Deucalion got back on his feet and took a step back.

"Leave Maggie out of this." I gritted only earning another twist of the pipe.

"Oh I'm afraid that's not possible Derek. You see, we both know why she's so special. She is wasting away in this pathetic pack. You both are. You need to rise to your true potential. With you and Maggie apart of the alpha pack, we would be unstoppable." Deucalion practically salivated at the proposal.

"I don't see what's so special about her. She's just a stupid kid." Kali spat bitterly only making Deucalion snicker.

"You don't see it now but trust me, you will. Very soon, you will see it." I silently prayed that Maggie would stay as far away from here as possible but something tells me they weren't here just to talk to me. They were here to send us both a message.

**[Isaac's POV]**

I left my bag of laundry in my gym locker when I got back. I was supposed to do laundry today like a normal teenager as Derek put it but I was so annoyed I didn't give a shit about doing laundry. Derek had everything backwards. How were Maggie, Boyd and I supposed to just get back to normal things like school and laundry when the guys that killed Erica were in gym class with us? It was complete bullshit. I could feel the blood pumping in my veins just thinking about those assholes getting the jump on me. Now Maggie was on my case for going after them alone? I couldn't win. I sat down in class and tried to keep my mind off of everything but no one seemed to understand. Scott had good intentions but he had no idea what we were up against. That was Maggie's fault. If she would have just let him help us, we might not be in this situation.

**Text from Maggie:**   
_Don't be a pouter. Stay out of trouble so I don't have to explain why you ripped someone's head off in front of a crowd._

Maggie had texted me the moment I sat down in my chair and I rolled my eyes. If anyone could explain me ripping someone's head off to a group of strangers, it'd be Maggie. She had the gift of bullshitting people that was truly a talent. Scott scooted into the chair behind me and I shook my head. I didn't need someone to talk me down. I needed someone to help me take those bastards down.

"They're here for a reason. Give me a chance to figure it out before you do anything. I can't help if I don't know what we're up against." Scott whispered to my back as I fumed.

_"You know what I like Ethan? How no matter how hard he fights, he'll never win. Not even with his own pack. He's pathetic."_

I could hear Aiden's voice clearly but I wasn't sure just how close he was. I knew he was taunting me but I didn't care. I wanted them dead.

_"You know what that is Aiden? Because he's the little bitch of the pack. We thought it was Maggie but we were wrong."_

My pencil was snapping in my hands and my heart was racing the angrier I got.

"Isaac, please-" Scott begged from behind me but I was already too far gone.

_"Well we weren't totally wrong. Maggie is a little bitch."_

"Mr. Harris, can I use the bathroom?" I jumped up out of my chair ready to tear the room apart. Either Scott didn't hear what they were saying or he heard and was able to control himself a lot better than I could. There's no way I was going to sit in class and listen to them bad mouth Maggie. Not after everything we'd been through.

Mr. Harris made a gesture that excused me but Scott quickly jumped up behind me.

"I have to go to the bathroom too." Mr. Harris rolled his eyes at him.

"One at a time Mr. McCall." I shut the door quickly in case Scott was actually able to make a case on leaving the room but I didn't have to go far. The twins stood at the end of the hall, blocking it off. They exchanged a brief smirk before Aiden planted his fist into the side of Ethan's jaw so hard, I could hear the bones crack. I stopped my stride and eyed them bizarrely. The second time he hit him, he fell into the lockers laughing. The more he hit him, the more he seemed to think it amusing. It was all pretty confusing until he started banging him up against the lockers, creating way too much noise not to check on but by the time anyone shuffled out to see what was going on, Aiden had tossed Ethan at my feet bleeding and cupping his jaw. The door to the classroom flew open and Mr. Harris came barreling out.

"What is this?" He questioned as Ethan pushed up from the floor. I looked back to see Aiden had already rounded the corner, leaving his bloodied brother at my feet to frame me. Danny ran to Ethan, helping him up.

"Are you alright? What happened?" He was concerned.

"I don't know, he just came at me." Ethan was very convincing but all I could do was shake my head.

"Isaac! What the hell did you do?" Harris without question was ready to hang me out to dry. He allowed me to grab my things before escorting me to the office and sending Ethan to the nurse with Danny accompanying him. Scott didn't say anything. He just kept giving me looks. I wasn't sure how to read it but I didn't have the chance to explain myself. I was lucky enough to only get lunchtime detention for the next week but I didn't even know what I was going to tell Maggie. Scott was sitting outside the office waiting for me when they let me out.

"I didn't do it." I shrugged my bag onto my shoulder as I started to walk but Scott stayed in step with me.

"I know you didn't. I know you wouldn't do anything like that after what Maggie said." Scott and I had a lot more in common than I'm sure he realized. We both cared a lot about Maggie and respected her enough to listen to her warnings but it wasn't like she was commanding us to do things. She was trying to prevent herself from losing anyone else. I understood that and I tried never to put her in a position that I could hurt her indirectly.

"Don't let them bother you. It's just lunch time detention. It could have been a lot worse. I'll help you explain it to her if you want." Scott followed me to my locker and I laughed.

"I'm not worried about explaining it to Maggie. You really have no clue what we're actually up against." I tossed my binder into my locker forcefully.

"If all they want right now is to piss you off, don't give into that. They're just trying to get to you." Scott pressed but when I glanced over my shoulder and saw that Aiden was chatting up Lydia, I knew what angle he was working.

"I'm not the only one." I huffed making Scott look over towards Lydia. It only took a moment of watching them talk for him to seemingly start to unravel. Aiden had tossed Scott and I a smug look after asking Lydia out on a study date and getting a shrug but I could still feel the tension radiating off of Scott.

"What?" He gritted out not looking back at me.

"Now they're getting to you. If only you knew what they did to Maggie the night we were captured." I brushed past Scott leaving him to figure out what his next move would be. The last thing I wanted was to be late for lunch detention and make matters worse.

**Text to Maggie:**   
_I'm going to miss lunch. I'll see you after school._

I put my phone on vibrate as I walked into the detention room with a few other kids. I didn't realize Harris would be the one to be in charge of lunchtime detention but I probably shouldn't have been surprised. He lived for torturing people. As he handed out punishments, I cringed. Restocking the janitors closet was probably not the best for someone that had enclosed space issues. I turned around to see who would be helping me and froze. Allison dropped her pencil and looked away from me.

"Oh no…um Mr. Harris, does it have to be with her?" I asked trying to keep it at a whisper.

"Now that I know you prefer not to, yes it has to be with her." Harris sneered. I looked back at her again before Harris sent us on our way. The walk to the supply room was silent. I felt my phone vibrating and checked to see a not so happy message from Maggie about blowing her off and staying out of trouble but I didn't bother to answer. Just looking at how small the janitor's closet was gave me chills. I wheeled the supplies in with Allison following close behind me. She ran into my back when I tried to move around the supplies.

"Oh sorry." She gave a shy smile as if she wasn't the knife wielding hunter who tried to kill me just a few months prior.

"Are you okay? Did you need to go? I saw you checking your phone. If Maggie needs you then-" I cut her off.

"I'm fine. I'm just not a huge fan of small spaces and Maggie's fine. She just wants to give me another lecture about behaving myself but she will be fine maintaining until later tonight." Allison cleared her throat.

"You two are living together?" I looked over at her. She seemed a bit surprised.

"Considering both my parents are dead and I'm apart of Derek's pack, yeah we live together." Allison nodded her head without making another comment.

"It's not like that. We tried…we're just really close." I don't know why I felt the need to explain my relationship with Maggie to Allison but I blurted it out anyway.

"Can I ask you a question?" She broke the silence finally.

"Do you have to?" I sighed hoping she didn't have any more personal questions.

"No I guess not." She laughed surprised at me resistance.

"I'm going to anyway though." I looked over at her when she stopped stocking the shelves.

"Did you tell anyone that I was at the school the other night?" I preferred this random question over ones about myself.

"No, was I supposed to?" I cocked an eyebrow as I continued to shelve.

"It would make me really happy if you didn't." She smiled at me which was new but I couldn't help but think about her stabbing me.

"Yeah well you being happy isn't really a big priority of mine. Since you stabbed me like twenty times with knives." I turned to the shelf opposite us.

"They were actually Chinese ring daggers but…sorry." When I looked back at her she was smirking playfully at me. We'd never been cordial with one another let alone borderline friendly.

"Was that an actual apology?" I asked making her chuckle.

"Would you even accept an apology at this point?" She questioned right back. I couldn't help but laugh myself considering Maggie had basically forgiven her entirely and she basically watched her get tortured. Before I could answer the door to the closet swung shut and everything went dark. I instantly felt the walls closing in and ran to try and break the door down.

"No no no no!" I tried the knob but it was locked.

"Maybe it's locked from the outside." Allison suggested but I could barely hear her as I tried to push against the heavy door.

"Somethings against it. I can't…I can't." I tried to push it as hard as I could but my head was spinning. I backed away and pulled my jacket off as Allison tried to keep me calm.

"Isaac, you have to relax okay? Just calm down." She kept repeating it but I couldn't handle it. I couldn't handle the air growing thick in my lungs as I pounded on the door. She kept repeating my name and I could hear her heart beating gradually getting louder but it wasn't as loud as my own.

"COME ON! COME ON! COME ON!" I was beating a hole into the wood of the door but felt nothing budge. I felt trapped like I was right back in the icebox of my basement. At some point, my wolf took over and I was fully aware of being trapped in a small space with another person. I turned around to snarl at Allison. She had her hands up and was backing away slowly.

"Isaac, please." I grabbed her arm roughly and she started to scream my name, trying desperately to reach me but I already felt out of control. I couldn't get a hold of my wolf and I was terrified of hurting her. I felt someone pull the back of my shirt from behind and toss me onto the floor outside of the closet. I tried to get to my feet to fight back until I saw it was Scott.

"ISAAC!" He growled so loudly that I felt my insides quake. I took a deep breath and felt myself sag to the floor quickly shifting out of my beta form. Allison walked slowly out of the closet holding her arm.

"Allison!" Scott turned to her with worry.

"I'm fine. I'm okay." Scott pulled her hand away and I could already smell the blood before seeing it.

"I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to do that." I apologized realizing just how out of control I'd gotten.

"It's okay, Isaac. I'm okay." She kept trying to reassure me but I just ran my hand through my hair ashamed.

"Scott, it's not his fault." She insisted.

"I know it's not." I looked up at him thrown. I thought for sure he'd be pissed at me but he locked his jaw.

"I guess we know now that they want more than to just get you angry or at least now I know. They want to get someone hurt. I'm sorry I doubted you." He said sincerely looking between Allison and I.

"So are we going to do something?" I forced as he extended his hand to me.

"Yeah, I'm going to get them angry. Really angry." Scott lifted me off the floor and patted my shoulder.

"What did you have in mind?" Allison spoke up making us look at her.

"You should really get that looked at." Scott insisted but she pulled a napkin from the closet and wipes the blood off before pulling her sleeve down.

"I'm not going anywhere. How can I help?" Allison made it very clear that there was no getting rid of her.

"Well do you know how to hot wire a motorcycle?" Scott asked curiously but Allison rolled her eyes.

"Do I know how to hot wire a motorcycle? Seriously? Watch and learn." Allison started for the parking lot and Scott encouraged me to follow her. I kept watch as she crouched down in front of one of the twin's bikes and started working on it.

"How long is this going to take?" My nerves were kicking in just standing in the lot. My adrenaline was still rushing from my anxiety attack earlier. Allison looked up from the ground just as the bike started up.

"Do I even want to know how you know how to do that?" I started but she just shook her head at me as I mounted the bike.

"Okay pull back on your left hand, kick down to put it in gear." She put her hand on top of mine.

"Front brake. Throttle. Back brake for stopping." I hadn't realized just how close she was until her hair tickled my cheek.

"Try not to crash." She smiled at me. I let out a laugh.

"Yeah been there, done that." I shrugged as she stepped back and took a photo of me. Scott texted back and said to wait thirty seconds before coming inside. Allison made sure I put the helmet on before I took off and I couldn't help but to think that Maggie would have appreciated that gesture. I took off after counting the thirty seconds and didn't get very far before Aiden was rushing towards me ready to tear me apart.

"Get off my bike!" He snarled. I pulled the helmet off slowly, returning the smug smirk he'd been given me all day with all of his antics.

"No problem." I put his helmet down and flipped over his shoulders laughing as I walked to the end of the hallway so he could check his bike over. Scott and Allison ran out with the rest of the kids and we watched as Ms. Blake walked out to see what was going on.

"You're kidding me right?! You know this is going to result in a suspension." She threatened pointing towards the office. It was the first time since battling with the alphas that I felt like we accomplished anything. Scott nudged my side and I gave him an approving nod. Maggie had no idea how much Scott would bring to the table if she would just let him help us. The only problem would be trying to explain just how much we needed his help knowing the risk he would be facing.

**[Stiles POV]**

Apparently I shouldn't have been shouting about being a virgin in the locker room because the immaturity of teenage boys is astounding. The whole time I was getting dressed there was either whispers about the dead body on the trail or my lack of sexual prose. It actually baffled me how those two things could even be discussed together.

Word got around pretty quickly about Kyle. Apparently he was involved in a lot of things. There was already talk of a candle vigil and a gofund to support his family during this difficult time. I couldn't help but think about all the people that would overlook Erica's death if they knew. Or maybe not even overlook it but act like they knew her and actually cared. Those kind of people were the worst. People that didn't give a shit about you when you were here but suddenly something awful happens to you and you're everybody's best friend. It sickened me to the core. I stopped in front of Kyle's locker which was now decorated like a memorial for his school life. Pictures of the girl that was wailing outside were on there with what I'm sure was heartfelt sentiments.

_"You were always such a cute couple. Kyle + Ashley 4 EVER!"_

I'd never lost a significant other but when Maggie died that night it felt like the whole world just stopped and everything just came to a crashing halt. I stopped breathing and all the sound around me was sucked out like a vacuum as I stood there staring at her lifeless body. I don't think I'd ever been so afraid in my life. Death has always been a really shitty part of my life. I lost my grandpa when I was 8 and it was my first real loss. It also kind of tricked me into thinking death could be peaceful. Going to sleep alive and not waking up seems the best way to go. It's unquestionably how you wish the people you care about would go but that wasn't the case. Mom suffered in the hospital for months, going in and out of crazy confused states and not being able to function. It broke me a part of me. Then seeing Maggie being impaled and bleeding out in my arms is a nightmare I'll never stop having. There are just things that burn their way into your brain that you wish they hadn't but it's almost like you need them there. You need to remember that moment of pain that stops your world just so you understand what you're dealing with.

I stepped out of the way so someone could pin something to the locker and jumped back when I realized who it was.

"Boyd? Hey! I didn't know you were back at school." I said with my arms still out. He eyed me bizarrely but that was nothing new.

"Yeah I would have told you but we're not actually friends." He said frankly. It kind of caught me off guard but he was right I guess. It was weird to think that people that were so close to Maggie, were barely acquaintances of mine. It kind of made me feel like a dick.

"Oh yeah. So I guess you knew Kyle huh?" I asked looking back at the thing he posted on the locker.

"Yeah we were in Junior ROTC together." Boyd gripped the straps of his backpack tightly.

"So you two were friends then?" I pressed.

"I only had one friend and she's dead too." Boyd said flatly. I bit my lip not sure what to say.

"How are you doing with all that? I heard you guys buried her a few days ago…I sent flowers-" Boyd shook his head.

"What are you doing right now?" He asked skeptically. I wasn't sure what to say to that. I feel like I was directly becoming one of the douchebags I was just thinking about who sponge off of horrible tragedies and that was the last thing I wanted Boyd to think I was doing.

"I don't need your pity. I'm fine." He sighed sticking his chest out.

"No man I'm not…I'm not pitying you. I just, if you wanted to talk sometime, I'm a pretty good listener." Boyd gave me a side eye as he narrowed his gaze in disbelief.

"You realize being nice to me isn't going to get you any closer to Maggie right?" He said as though I had an angle of some sort.

"Dude this isn't about Maggie. I know we weren't really friends before but I just wanted you to know I'm here for you man." I chuckled trying to lighten the mood just barely but his face gone stone serious before glancing over my shoulder.

"You don't want to be my friend, Stiles. All my friends die. It's best if you just keep your distance…from all of this, from all of us." He turned and walked away making me rub the back of my neck. I wouldn't know what to do if I ever felt that alone with things. I knew no matter what I'd always have Scott but Boyd seemed practically isolated. A rush of air made the hair on my arm stand up and I jumped again seeing Maggie had run up on me keeping her eyes down the hallway to where Boyd just turned the corner.

"Hey, was that Boyd? What did he say?" Maggie acted as though she had sniffed him out of the crowd or something.

"Wow…okay creeper, um it would appear that he's acquired your general tact of pushing everyone away on the illusion that just because people care about you, they're meant for death." She looked saddened at my answer, almost like she was worried.

"However you're talking to me now without threatening me with bodily injury which could mean that you've somehow evolved in the last hour and changed your views." Maggie had done her makeup and looked a lot more put together than she did this morning when I first saw her. I wasn't sure if it was because it was gym class or because she actually had time in between periods to actually relax.

"No." She dismissed finally looking at me before turning on her heel and walking away. I jogged to catch up with her and she sighed when she realized I had even bothered to.

"You look better, I mean not better just- you look less pissed off than when I last saw you." I stuttered.

"Are you looking to change that?" She narrowed her eyes without even looking at me.

"No but I've been told I can easily agitate people. I like to think I'm a particular taste for some." She rolled her eyes at me as she sat down in front of the Morrell's office.

"You here for guidance?" I cocked my eyebrow.

"No I figured I'd just sit here and blend with the bench. Maybe you wouldn't see me." She taunted.

"You know Morrell is still the guidance counselor right? I mean that hasn't changed." Maggie's face seemed to change.

"Well I guess that's a relief. At least now I know she doesn't want to talk about my mental state." Maggie shrugged as I sat in front of the office which was just a few feet away from Morrell's office.

"What else would she need to talk to you about?" I questioned hoping she'd actually give me an answer.

"Nothing good I'm sure." Maggie leaned back in the chair and started typing on her phone. I took that as a sign to be quiet and leave her alone so instead of bothering her, I decided to try and eavesdrop on Ashley. She was in the office talking with my dad and Deputy Tara talking about when she last saw Kyle. I tried to focus hard enough on what she was saying through her sobs but it was almost impossible to make it. I considered asking Maggie for help since her hearing was better than mine but I got caught staring at her when she pulled her jacket off and started putting her hair up. Her shirt had started to rise up a bit revealing the bare skin of her stomach and I licked my lips. When she cleared her throat and met my eyes, I looked away blushing knowing I was caught. There was no playing it off. I just gradually turned around to peek into the office from the window when she let out a sigh.

"Whatever you plan on doing, don't. That girl is wrecked. Don't make it worse." Maggie was working on some kind of list in her hands so she didn't look up at me when she spoke.

"I just need to know something. It's important." I explained before I saw them coming my way. I jumped to turn back around as Tara walked Ashley back out into the hallway.

"Stay right here for a minute." Tara rubbed her back and Ashley wrapped her arms around herself. I waited until Tara walked back in with my dad before standing up to approach her.

"Um hi Ashley, could I talk to you for just one sec?" I put my hand on her elbow slightly to pull her away from the door. I could feel Maggie's eyes on me but I stayed focused.

"Sorry I just need to ask you something real quick and it's going to sound really, unbelievably insensitive so I apologize in advance." I had never spoken to this girl in my entire life and here I was about to ask a question that would be considered rude on a normal day but I had to know.

"Was Kyle a virgin?" I blurted watching her face pinch together.

"What?" She looked horribly offended.

"Your boyfriend, was he a virgin or did you guys, you know-" I didn't even get to elaborate when her hand connected flat against my cheek. The sting from the slap made my skin feel hot and I reached up to touch it as if I was shocked by the act itself. Maggie made an audible sound witnessing the strike but before I could even apologize again, Tara had run out of the office and put her hands on Ashley's shoulders. She pulled back slightly.

"No, he wasn't a virgin." Ashley added making Tara look back at me as if I was the biggest piece of scum to ever walk the planet. It hurt. Not just my face which hurt a lot but it hurt to have someone I've known for so long look at me with shame. It was a look I'd have to experience with a lot more intensity when my dad grabbed my shoulders and pushed me back a few steps. He looked past me over to Maggie who sat staring at us.

"Don't look at me, I'm not involved." Maggie dismissed his glare and his anger was reflected back onto me.

"Have you completely lost your mind? I've got 4 murders Stiles! You see those men in there? That's the FBI! They're pulling together a task force to help because it looks like we've got a full blown serial killer on our hands here." Dad gritted out as quietly as he could.

"Do you get that?" He forced.

"Yes Dad! I get that." I looked up from the floor to meet his look of disappointment.

"Then what are you doing?" He asked trying to figure me out. I felt like my dad was always trying to figure me out but I was always so all over the place he didn't stand a chance.

"I'm trying to find a pattern." I admitted watching him run his hand over his face.

"Son, I appreciate you trying to help but you know you can't. All you're doing is making things harder for me so please just stay out of it. Let me do my job." I gave him a silent nod before he walked away leaving me in the hallway, rubbing my face and swimming in my failure. I closed my eyes trying to get my thoughts in order but I felt so scattered. I was running out of time and the panic was setting in.

"How's your face?" I opened my eyes to see that Maggie was staring at me. She hadn't expressed any real distress for me since she's been back so I was taken aback by her concern.

"Better than my ego and general status of being a bearable son." I shrugged.

"You're impeding his investigation and you asked a girl about her sex life after her boyfriend was found brutally murdered. Did you expect a different outcome?" I looked over at Maggie who actually had a bit of sympathy in her eyes as she looked at me. I had taken notice of how she'd done her hair and makeup after gym but looking at her now, I could see how exhausted her eyes looked. Her face may be done up to make her seem refreshed but I could always read her eyes.

"Yeah I guess not but what am I supposed to do? Sit around and wait to get picked off with the rest of the virgin sacrifices?" I shook out of my trance and sat down next to her in the empty chair.

"I'm sorry, you lost me. What are you even talking about?" She put her hand up to stop me. We had talked a few times about the murders being sacrifices but for some reason she didn't seem to be retaining it.

"All these bodies coming up with the three fold injuries are virgins. I've been trap in this supernatural nightmare for over a year now and was friends with one of the victims. You don't think they'll come for me at some point?" I could see she was trying to process what I was saying so instead of chewing my lip off, I decided to just admit it outloud.

"Not that it matters now but I did save that for you. I thought…It's stupid and you don't care about-" She stopped me by putting her hand on my wrist.

"I'll figure something out to keep you safe." She had moved her hand from my arm to the warm spot on my face where I'm sure a welt was developing. I felt a tingling sensation and instant relief. She pulled her hand away slowly holding my gaze as I gave her a friendly smile.

"Thanks." My voice must have snapped her out of it because she blinked a few times before she reeled her hand back into her own face, tucking a piece of hair behind her ears and gathering her things.

"Don't mention it." She was scrambling.

"Maggie you don't-" She cut her eyes at me.

"Please don't make this into something it's not. I've got way too much going on right now to deal with anything else." She barely remembered to grab her bag before she took off in the opposite direction of the office. I slumped down in the chair wishing I hadn't said anything. Maybe if I stopped acted like I expected more from her, she'd actually surprise me with giving me a bit more. It's not like I was asking for her to run into my arms and make out with me. I just wanted to know what was going on. I wanted her to look me in the eyes and talk to me about what the hell happened to her this summer. I hated being like this. I hated how distant she was. It was hard to be bitter about her totally blowing me off when she was clearly messed up about something completely different.

Maggie had left a little notepad sitting on the table outside of Morrell's office and I picked it up. Of all the things she would have on her, I did not expect it to be a grocery list. There was no way she'd be getting all of this by herself. The sound of Lydia Martin high heels clicking on the floor pulled me from the list in my hand. When she rounded the corner and saw me she shook her head.

"Hey! Don't walk away from me. We are totally past the phase where you dodge me." I was almost offended that she would walk away from me.

"If this is more drama about rouge animals, I don't have time for it." She didn't even look back at me as she strutted down the hallway.

"It's not about the animals." I promised.

"Good because that was farfetched even for you." She laughed.

"It's actually about human sacrifice." Lydia groaned as she pushed the doors open. I followed her out anyway.

"You there's a temple in Calcutta where they sacrifice a child every day? That's EVERY DAY a dead baby Lydia. Every day! Hey you want to know what day it is? It's dead baby day! Oh wait that's every day, yay!" I freaked out but I didn't seem to be getting any sort of rousing out of her.

"Why are you telling me about this?" She asked curiously.

"Scott's dealing with the alpha twins and every time Maggie makes legit eye contact with me she runs away." Lydia froze and looked over at me.

"I'm unsure of which part fascinated you into finally stopping." I threw my arms out honestly uncertain.

"Alphas?" I should have known she didn't care about the zero progress made with Maggie.

"Ethan and Aiden." She seemed to be catching up quickly but if she had any contact with Maggie over the summer then she shouldn't be so lost.

"Oh yeah I knew about them." She clearly didn't. I only hoped she hadn't tried to date one of them yet. They were definitely her type. At least Aiden reminded me of a much doucher version of Jackson. Almost made me miss that jug-head.

"Anyway here's what I'm thinking, I'm thinking that maybe the murders come in threes. Ancient people love things in threes and then I don't know maybe its three people that own little dogs." I knew that would get her to stop.

"I own a little dog." She cut her eyes at me knowing that I was being paranoid.

"Stiles, I'm not getting rid of my little dog." She started to storm off again and I groaned.

"Come on! Could you at least think about getting rid of your little dog?" I begged.

"No and by the way you cannot discern a pattern by a single data point. Unless Maggie told you that the next set of three is little dog owners-"

"So what I'm just supposed to wait around for someone else to die? Just sit around while everyone else thinks it's safe when it's really not. Someone will be out there getting brutally murdered or tortured to death. I'll just sit around while someone withers up and dies?!" Lydia finally stopped.

"Wither?" She cocked her eyebrow.

"You know what I mean! Die in a hideously awful, strangulating, head bashing, throat cutting kind of way." I waved my hands over my throat and she put her hand up so I would simmer down a bit. I noticed that some people were eyeballing me like I was crazy but at this point I was used to it.

"Maggie's still not talking to you?" She seemed slightly surprised.

"No and I've tried but it's not like I can make her talk to me." Lydia rubbed my arm understandingly. I honestly would love to know what they talked about over the summer. I feel like they both did a complete 180. Maggie couldn't stand Lydia and vice versa. Now they seemed oddly protective of one another. It's better than trying to tear them apart kicking and screaming.

"Look maybe we should just stay out of it. You said yourself that the victims were strangled with a garrote. That's a human thing to do. Maybe letting a human figure it out is what's best." Lydia took her hand away from my arm and I bit my lip.

"You mean someone that's not me, like my dad?" I watched her let out a frustrated sigh.

"No Stiles, I mean your dad." As much as I hated to admit it, Lydia was right. Dad had already tried to get me to butt out of his case but I knew this wasn't just some crazy guy running around murdering teenagers. I could feel it in my gut. If Lydia wasn't going to help me then I had to ask the one person who usually had all the answers. Dr. Deaton.

**[Scott's POV]**

I followed Maggie's scent through the hallways until I found her sitting in the corner of the library writing in a notebook. She looked up when I entered and let out a disdained sigh as I walked over. She was clearly not happy to see me but I felt like I owed it to Isaac to at least try and plead his case.

"You know what's funny? I can actually remember tons of moments where I needed you and Stiles for support last year and you weren't around. Now it's like I can't get rid of you." She chewed on the end of her pen as I sat next to her.

"Yeah I guess you're just lucky like that." I shrugged.

"What do you want Scott? I have to rewrite this stupid grocery list from memory and I already told Stiles I can't help him. I'm going to do whatever I can to keep him safe from whoever might be sacrificing people but all I ask is for you guys to just back off." Maggie ran her hand through her hair. I could see how stressed out she was but I almost didn't feel sorry for her. She won't allow anyone else to carry the weight with her. She is going to crush herself.

"I know what you said earlier about Stiles and I getting involved but you need to listen to me. You aren't going to like what I have to say but you need to listen." I said firmly making her pinch the bridge of her nose.

"Ethan and Aiden went after Isaac again." She looked up immediately.

"He's okay! Sorry I should have led with that. He got lunch detention for the rest of the week but he's alright." I knew I had her attention now.

"They keep trying to bait Isaac into a fight but it's so much more than that. They locked him and Allison in a janitor's closet and he freaked out, ended up scratching Allison's arm up." Guilt washed over Maggie and it became hard to smell anything else.

"I knew coming back to school was a bad idea. I told Derek we needed to take care of them first." Maggie started to get up but I stopped her.

"You need to be here because they aren't just going after Isaac. Both of them are going after Lydia and Danny too. We can't protect them if you aren't here." She bit her lip harshly.

"There is no we Scott! You can't get invo-"

"I ALREADY AM!" I raised my voice getting an unforgiving look from the librarian as well as the other kids studying.

"Scott, please. Stop making this so hard for me." Maggie pleaded.

"I'm not trying to make it hard for you. I'm trying to make it easier. I know that these guys killed Erica, I know they hurt you and I know they're dangerous. You thinking you can do all this on your own is going to get you killed." I stepped in front of her when she tried to walk around me. She still wouldn't let me make skin contact with her and I knew why. It was all too real when she felt my skin. We were both creatures of habit and I knew how much simple contact could break you down or comfort you.

"You don't want me around, that's up to you but Derek has asked for my help. Isaac has asked for me help and I'm not going to just turn my back on them because you're afraid I might get hurt. Why are you the only one allowed to worry about someone getting hurt? How can you be so damn selfish with that? Whether you like it or not, I'm family. You will never get rid of me." I forced making her grind her teeth.

"I'm not trying to get rid of you Scott! I'm trying to keep from burying you. You have no idea what that feels like. You have no clue what it's like to lose a pack member, a sister, a friend. Erica was killed because of what I did. I gave in to Deucalion and someone I love paid with their life. You think I'm being selfish with wanting to do this on my own when you have no idea the pain I have to wake up to every single day with that guilt." Tears were threatening to roll down her cheeks at any moment but I could tell how hard she was fighting them back.

"Are you kidding? Maggie I've lost you three times! I know what losing someone feels like. You don't think I felt guilty about losing you? You don't think I stayed up wracking my brain trying to figure out what I could have done differently to make you stay or convince you that you didn't have to do this all alone? You were gone for four months this time Mags. Every day I hoped to hear from you. Now you want nothing to do with me and tell me it's for my own good? That's total shit Maggie and you know it." Maggie crossed her arms over her chest.

"When I was bitten, you were pissed we tried to keep it from you, to protect you. But the need to tell you, to include you and lean on you was too overpowering for me to keep you out of it. It wasn't because I was less worried about something happening to you. It was because I care enough about you to know that I will do anything and everything to protect you. Keeping you in the dark doesn't do that. Keeping you close does. We've always been stronger together and you know that." I could tell she was closing in on herself. What I was saying wasn't wrong, she just decided to take a really crappy approach at caring about us.

"This is not your fight Scott. I don't need your help taking down the alpha pack." She said simply, trying to push past me but I wasn't ready to let her get away. I grabbed her arm this time, holding onto it and letting the skin of my hand grip the warmth of her arm.

"I am fighting for you Maggie! You're the only one who can't see that! I will always fight for you no matter how much you want me to walk away and forget, I will never stop fighting for you. It's not about anyone else but you." I felt her body shake just slightly before looking up at me miserably. She whimpered when I pulled away and left the library. After all our exchanges, she always was the one to storm off leaving me with the heavy heart but not this time. This time I was going to walk away and let her sit with the truth. She couldn't do this on her own and I wasn't going to sit back and let her anymore. I didn't care how much she pushed, she'd have to do her worst if she wanted to keep me away.

I walked past the office hearing Aiden getting chewed out by the principal and was overjoyed to hear that he was suspended for two weeks. Ethan didn't seem as much of a hostile threat as Aiden did but I wasn't going to underestimate him. I caught Isaac's scent and followed it towards the locker room to see him shoving his clothes into a huge duffel.

"Hey, I just heard that Aiden got two weeks of suspension. It might not be much but it keeps them from going super wolf for a while." I leaned against the locker as he sorted through some toiletries.

"Yeah well I still think we should have killed them." Isaac moped.

"We'll kill em' next time." I teased making him chuckle.

"I haven't gotten any messages from Maggie yet. Have you not talked to her?" Isaac asked curiously.

"Actually yeah I just left her in the library. I think you're in the clear. If anything she'll be pissed at me and not you." I waved it off hoping to ease Isaac's mind. I could see he was trying to double use his locker as some sort of living situation. I didn't want to pry but I wasn't sure where he fit into the loft now that Cora was living there.

"Hey, how do you get to Derek's?" I asked as he zipped his bag.

"I walk to the bus stop." Isaac looked over at me as if I'd judge him or something.

"Well do you have something you're doing? I mean did you want to come by my place, maybe get some of this laundry done? My mom is making tacos so it'd be cool if you wanted to hang out for a bit." I offered watching his face carefully. He seemed surprised I'd even ask but his body was relaxed.

"I mean I don't want to put you out or anything." Isaac put his bag on his shoulder.

"No way man. It's totally cool." I couldn't help but smile. It's about time I spent some time with Isaac. He's been a pretty decent guy and Stiles had stopped answering his phone anyway. If Maggie wasn't going to let me in then maybe Isaac would help me get some insight on what the Hale pack is actually going up against.

"Hey I wanted to thank you for believing me earlier. I means a lot. I know Maggie's been pushing you guys away but I honestly don't think we'll make it through this alive without you." Isaac closed his locker door and I gave him a nod. The last thing I wanted was for anyone else to die. Maggie would have to learn to live with the love or hate me for it because I refused to lose her again.

**[Maggie's POV]**

I felt like I was dragging after Scott took off. I hated that no matter how hard I tried he just wouldn't leave it alone. I had every intention of finding Isaac and bitching him out for getting Scott wrapped up in this crap but it would appear that no one wanted to answer their phones today.

"Hey Derek, it's me. You aren't picking up your phone right now and I'd rather chew on some glass before I bother calling Cora so just give me a call when you can. I'm just looking for Isaac." Lydia approached my locker and I hung up the phone.

"Hey what are you still doing here? I thought they gave super genius last block off." I opened up my locker and she leaned on the one in front of me.

"I was just about to head out but I wanted to talk to you about Stiles." I buried my head inside my locker to growl in frustration.

"Come on Lydia. Between you and Scott, I'm successfully worn out from being told how shitty a friend I am today. You didn't have a problem when I told you not to get involved, why is it different for them?" I put my hand out.

"Just because I stayed out of it doesn't mean you weren't talking to me. You haven't even given them that. You need them Maggie." I pulled my head out of the locker.

"I don't need anyone. Needing people is what got Erica killed. It's what gets everyone killed." I looked over at her but she wasn't budging.

"Fine. Be stubborn. I expected nothing else from you but know this, Stiles is going to keep pursuing the sacrifices with or without you. How will you feel when the next person you lose was one of the ones you thought you were protecting by pushing away?" Lydia turned on her fancy, brown heels and clicked away. Everything about this day was exhausting. Running into Stiles, getting lit up by Scott and Lydia, Isaac acting out and Boyd avoiding me altogether had basically broken me down. I tried not to mess up the homework assignments in my bag but that's just my life at this point. A jumbled mess that I tried to carry around on my back trying to sort out but no matter how hard I tried, the more jumbled it seemed to get. I tried giving Boyd a call again but he still hadn't answered. I walked out to the parking lot flustered from the day but I knew it was hardly over.

Trudging through the grocery store alone was pretty awful. Usually Derek or Isaac would be with me but since they both were too busy to answer their phones I had to do it on my own. I felt odd and out of place shopping alone. It was unsettling and I kept trying to get out of my head long enough to focus on buying the right brand bread that Derek likes. Today pretty much went as I expected it to. I caught a bunch of shit, got super annoyed with Isaac and Boyd did a pretty great job at avoiding me. I had a shit ton of work I had to do after already falling behind and I was nowhere closer to taking out the alpha pack. Now it would appear that these sacrifices were becoming the new threat in town and the Stilinski men were single handedly making me want to sacrifice myself. I was drowning in it. I didn't want to admit that Scott was right even though I knew the truth. I was too afraid that the moment I let Scott back in that I'd completely fall apart. Everything that happened this summer, everything with Erica, it was all still too much to deal with out loud. Scott had this hold on me that made me feel like it was okay to fall apart in his arms and I couldn't deal with that right now. People's lives were on the line right now.

I packed up the car and headed towards the loft, passing the clinic on the way. I saw the jeep sitting out front and slowed down. Stiles wouldn't go to Deaton unless he was truly desperate. He's never really like him to begin with. He had too many secrets, he'd say. If only he knew. I listened from the car at what he was saying before deciding whether or not I wanted to enter.

"All these symbols and things- the triskeles, the bank logo, the mountain ash, all from the Celtic druids. Anyone who has ever looked up human sacrifices knows that the druids had a pretty big hard-on when it came to given one up for the gods." Stiles voice was tense. He sounded desperate and if he was going to Deaton alone then he was grasping at straws.

"Maggie gave me this book a while ago. Have you ever heard of the Lindow Man? 2,000 year old body found in England. He was found strangled, head bashed in, throat cut- Threefold death. They also found pollen grains in his stomach. Guess what favorite Druid plant that was?" I walked into the backdoor hearing Deaton open one of his jars. The smell of mistletoe was spicy in my nose.

"Mistletoe." Deaton answered eloquently. That explained the smell on the body they found today. I knew it was mistletoe.

"I'm just telling you things you already know." Stiles was growing inpatient.

"Then why aren't you telling us? Why aren't you helping us figure out who this is so the bastard stops killing kids?" Stiles demanded slamming his fist down.

"Maybe because when you spend every moment of the last ten years trying to push something away, denying it, hiding from it, lying about it..." Deaton knew I was in the clinic now. He always had a way of communicating with me even when I didn't want him to.

"It becomes a pretty powerful habit." During the summer, I had gotten closer to Deaton. He was able to tell me things about my family and the Hale family that I never expected to learn. He was very close to Talia Hale and some of the things he told me, Derek doesn't even know about.

"So is this guy a druid?" Stiles broke through my thoughts and I stepped out of the back.

"No it's someone copying a centuries-old practice of a people who should have known better." I made myself known making Stiles jump slightly.

"Do you know what the word Druid means in Gaelic?" Deaton asked. Stiles glanced over at me shaking his head.

"It means wise oak. The Celtics were close with nature. They believed they kept it in balance. They were philosophers and scholars. They weren't serial killers." Deaton defended.

"Yeah well this one is so what do we do about it?" Stiles persisted but this time Deaton looked to me.

"The Nyvolore is a creature created by the elements. This person is using nature like a dark druid would. If there was druid trying to make sacrifices for some reason, Maggie would be the only one who could truly stop them." Deaton gestured to me making Stiles look over at me.

"It's time you start shedding some light on a few things if you truly want to keep them safe Maggie." Deaton gathered up the mistletoe and walked back towards his office leaving me with an unfulfilled Stiles.

"I needed help. He was the only other person I could think of. People are going to keep dying Maggie. I can't just let that happen." He had his hands gripping the metal table and his head hanging down.

"Between you and Scott, I should probably just throw myself on the sacrificial alter to save my sanity." I leaned on the table mimicking his stance.

"Sorry to put you out." Stiles scoffed. I looked up at him knowing that he wouldn't let this go. He was too invested. His dad was going to burn himself out trying to figure out this case and Stiles refused to let that happen. I moved closer to him making him look up.

"I will find out who's doing this under one condition." He seemed surprised but intrigued with an offer.

"I want you out of the alpha pack business. Things are going to get much bloodier, much quicker and I don't want you anywhere near it. Do we have a deal?" I offered watching him weigh it. He gave me a nod accepting the terms before I walked out of the front door. I wanted to kick myself the whole drive to the loft knowing I was making a mistake but it seemed like the only way to keep him away from the threat that I could actually prevent. I got out of the car once I pulled up to the loft and had to sigh when Stiles tires squealed onto the gravel.

"That wasn't an invitation for a movie night Stiles." I opened the trunk of the car and he hurried over to me.

"You can't just make a proposal like that and then walk away. I mean there are a lot of things we need to discuss like suspects and odd occurrences." Stiles rambled.

"I said I would find the person doing this, not we. What more did we need to discuss?" I started pulling bags out of the trunk with him fidgeting.

"Well what about Scott? What do I do if he asks me for help with the alpha pack?" Stiles questioned.

"I'll handle Scott." Stiles reached into the trunk and started pulling groceries out.

"I didn't ask for your help." I groaned as he used his elbow to shut the trunk.

"Yeah you never do but I've grown accustom to just not listening to you so." He tilted his head toward the building. I rolled my eyes. I knew there was no getting him to put them back in the trunk at this point and arguing would just stress me out further so I let him win this one. We got on the lift and stood in silence.

"Hear anything from Boyd yet?" He asked making me look over at him. When I didn't answer he tucked his bottom lip into his mouth.

"He'll come around. Just give him some time. He cares about you a lot so I'm sure it's hard for him to know his pain directly affects you." Stiles bounced on the balls of his feet and I shook my head.

"Would you say this to Isaac?" I asked making him snort.

"Uh no. I'd tell him he's annoying and I don't blame Boyd for dodging him." Just like that a little laugh slipped out of my mouth. I shook it off quickly trying to recover from it but he'd already started smiling.

"We both know I saw that." Stiles bragged.

"Shut up." I dismissed him as the elevator creaked slowly up the building. The higher we got, the more that bitter smell I had grown familiar with filled my nose.

"You can be as mean to me as you want but I know how to make you laugh." Stiles boasted proudly but I wasn't focusing on him any longer.

"Blood…" I whispered.

"Um…not quite but-"

"I smell blood." I closed my eyes tuning Stiles questions out.

"Oh god Derek!" It was Cora. Her heart was racing and I could feel her anxiety coming off her in waves.

"Maggie what's happening?" Stiles raised his voice as the elevator stopped.

"Stay back!" When the doors opened I was grabbed by the throat so violently that I knocked Stiles backwards in the elevator. My body hit the concrete wall hard and I landed on the groceries that were scattered.

"Holy shit!" I heard Stiles yelp. Deucalion stood by the stair access with Kali and Ennis. I shook my head at Stiles so he wouldn't move as I pushed off the ground and spun around to face them. Ennis lunged and I jumped quickly enough to dodge the strike and tear through the back of his legs sending him to his knees. Kali snarled at me and threw her wolverine like feet at my face. I could feel the air push against my skin barely missing the assault but I hadn't moved quickly enough to miss her hand. The strike sent me backwards away from Deucalion. Kali seemed annoyed that I could keep up with every hit she threw at me and still take swipes at Ennis as he tried to get back to his feet. I had managed to get Kali one good time across the jaw making it easier for me to sweep her legs out from under her. I'd gotten the upper hand and turned back to Ennis.

"MAGGIE!" Stiles warning allowed me to move just as I heard the whistle of Deucalion's cane sore past my face, nicking my cheek and drawing blood. The distraction gave Ennis the time to pick me up off my feet and power slam me into the floor so hard I could feel my spine rattle in my body. Stiles' feet started to shuffle as I tried to catch my breath.

"No…" I winced out in pain trying to roll over but Ennis had gripped my throat and pulled me up like a rag doll holding me against the wall, legs dangling, head spinning as I gripped his hand.

"I don't know Duke, she doesn't seem so special to me. Maybe we should tear into her and really see what's inside of her." Ennis looked me over as I kicked my legs trying to find just a bit of relief to breathe and receiving none. He squeezed harder and blood started to drip down my neck.

"Nonsense, you just haven't given her the right motivation yet." Kali retrieved Deucalion's cane so he could put the tip back on it.

"Kali, retrieve Mr. Stilinski please." Deucalion directed making me kick harder.

"A new chew toy, my pleasure." Kali advanced towards Stiles and I panicked. I threw my hand away from my neck towards Stiles pushing him back into the elevator and shutting the doors to protect him. Kali jumped back almost getting caught in-between the metal doors. She looked over her shoulder at me. Ennis was so caught off guard, I was able to do a skin sear spell on his arm making him drop me to the floor.

"What the hell is she?" Kali started towards me but Deucalion stopped her with his cane.

"Come along now, I'll explain just how special Maggie Stevens really is. We'll be in touch Maggie." Kali hesitated before glancing at Ennis and seeing that he was hurt. She walked over and pulled Ennis along before leading Deucalion towards the stairs. I listened to the clicking of the cane down every stair before releasing the doors of the elevator. Stiles slid on the floor next to me pushing my hair out of my face.

"Oh my God, are you okay? You're bleeding." He put his hand to the puncture marks on my neck and I pushed his hand away.

"I-I'm fine. You need to go." I sat up slowly feeling my spine healing slowly.

"Yeah right! You can barely move around. I'm not going to leave you alone-"

"Derek…Derek's hurt." I tried to push myself up but Stiles ended up gripping my arm and hauling me up. I fell back against the wall and winced when my back hit it. Stiles hovered in front of me, alarm plastered all over him. I took a few deep breaths and focused on my healing letting my eyes flash green. The moment I could stand up straight, I took off up the little set of stairs and threw the loft door open to see Cora had him lying back on his bed, a large pool of blood on the floor.

"We were outnumbered. There was nothing we could do." Cora was biting her nails.

"What happened? I could hear you outside." Derek asked leaning on his elbows to sit up.

"I screwed up. They're gone now but I screwed up." I walked towards a drawer that I kept near the couch for quick fixes. It had healing herbs in it.

"Maggie, what happened?" Derek stopped me when I lifted his shirt to assess the damage. He had a huge hole in the middle of his chest and he lost a lot of blood.

"They know I'm the Nyvolore now. Deucalion sent Kali after Stiles…I had no choice." I started crushing the herbs in a bowl and Derek sighed.

"Are you okay?" Derek was looking past me and I knew who he was talking to. I looked back at him and saw him staring from the pool of blood on the floor back up to Derek.

"I'm doing better than you it would seem." Stiles croaked like his throat had gone dry. I knew he wasn't a fan of blood but it was all a lot to take in.

"You should go." I said simply pushing Derek back to lie down.

"What? Maggie I can-"

"Please, you've done enough. Just go." I turned my back on Stiles and Derek sighed. I didn't watch him leave but I listened to his sneakers against the floor as he stepped through the groceries scattered just outside the door. He took the elevator down halfway before his phone buzzed. I tuned him out after I'd heard the jeep start up and finally met Derek's gaze.

"Are you okay?" Derek asked watching me carefully as I tried to repair some of the internal damage.

"Asks the guy with the hole through his chest." I rolled my eyes.

"You didn't have to send him away. It was all a test anyway. Deucalion wanted them to know why you were so special. Stiles couldn't have prevented this." Derek winced when I pulled at the healing skin.

"If he didn't insist on being here then he wouldn't have been a test. You know that. I pushed them all away so they wouldn't be used against me and it doesn't even matter now. It's like Erica's death didn't matter." I pushed up from the bed and Derek tried to grab my arm but I was too fast.

"You do realize that there are no other options after an attack like this right? It's time we take them out. We have the pack together so all we can do now is heal you up and take them out." I grabbed Derek a new shirt and wet cloth to clean him up but he stopped me finally taking my hand.

"Stop for a second and look at me." I did as Derek asked and stared down at him. He was an idiot if he thought that we could just let them come into our home and let them get away with this.

"I can clean myself up. Please just calm down." His eyes were heavy and every once in a while he'd feel me pulling some of his pain and move my hand away.

"You can barely move." I pointed out but he made a face like he'd attempted to shake his head in disagreement.

"I'll be fine. I just need time to let it heal." He licked at his lips and I moved my hand back onto his side but he quickly pushed it away this time.

"Derek, there's a giant hole in your chest that I think you're taking way too casually. Why won't you just let me heal you? It's not a big deal." I asked crossing my arms over my chest.

"Because we can't always rely on your healing abilities. I'm an alpha, let it heal on it's on. Besides, I think Cora needs you more. Help calm her down." Derek lowered his voice as if Cora couldn't hear him. I looked over at her glaring at the floor and pacing.

"I know you two are at odds with one another but we're family. You only butt heads because you're so much alike. You need each other like I need you both." Derek rubbed my knee making me get up.

"Ugh you are so stubborn. Stop being all Master Splinter and rest." It must be a Hale trait that we didn't like to be taken care of but when I put the wet cloth in his hand he smiled lightly.

"Thank you." I moved away from his bed and I gave his shoulder a squeeze before walking towards Cora who was quick to dismiss me.

"I don't need your comfort! I need you to fix him so we can get back at these bastards! I'm not going to let them hurt him again! I can't just watch them hurt my family anymore! Do you hear me?!" I put my hands up trying to get her to lower her voice and calm down.

"I understand, I do. This won't happen again without us taking out one of them in the process but you have to trust me right now. The calmer you are, the faster he will heal. Just take a breath okay? We'll figure it out, together." Cora raked her hands down her face fighting back her emotions and looking at me as if she wasn't sure whether to believe me or not but taking one glance at Derek, she knew she didn't have many options.

"What do you need me to do?" Cora asked ready to work with me. I looked around the loft and took in the mess.

"As stupid as it sounds, I need you to get the groceries. They ambushed me out in the hall so some of it is ruined. I'll give you the money and the list but I can get him situated and clean this place up while you're gone." Cora looked over at Derek who was now passed out on his bed with half his shirt on.

"You aren't going to leave him right?" Cora asked making me pull a face.

"No way. I'll be here. I think you need some air. I promise I won't leave him okay?" Cora grabbed a sweatshirt from the couch and pulled it over her head. She looked completely drained and I knew being here wasn't going to calm her down any. I walked her to the door and handed her my keys watching her walk into the elevator. I started picking up the mess of groceries on the floor and carrying them inside to either bag up for the trash or put in the fridge. Most of the perishables got ruined but Derek's bread was hardly crushed. When I finished putting things away, I walked over to Derek and cut the rest of his shirt off of him. The wound was still open but not as much as it was when I first arrived. I used the warm cloth to wash the blood from his torso and use the herbs to seal the remainder of the wound. He groaned a bit in his sleep but I did another pain drain on him to keep him good and sedated.

By the time I got Derek cleaned up and settled in, I knew what was left for me to clean up. I walked over to the blood that was slowly staining the floor just a few feet from where Isaac would sleep or Derek would read. I got down on my hands and knees and started sopping up the blood, wringing the rag out when it became too saturated. The harder I scrubbed, the angrier I became. I could see flashes, bits and pieces of the confrontation that took place. Deucalion claimed he wanted Derek and I to join his pack but needed us to kill our pack first. After months of battling him, I knew it was so much more than that. Deucalion didn't just want us to kill all the people we loved, his end game was much greater than that and I'd rather die than follow him. The door pulled open quickly and Boyd walked in looking from me to Derek who was still laid out.

"What happened? Where's Cora? Is she alright?" He asked frantically.

"She's fine, I sent her out to get some air. Deucalion, Kali and Ennis paid Derek a visit. Practically killed him waiting on me to get here just so they could send a message." I dropped the rag and stood up, Derek blood lathered up to my elbows, smeared on my clothes and I felt a streak of it on my cheek.

"What message did they send?" Boyd asked carefully as I turned towards him.

"They've hurt my family for the last time. This was supposed to be a warning for me but they just signed a death warrant. There will be no longer be any more compromises. Every breath the alpha pack draws from this point on is a gift. This time next week, there won't be an alpha pack to worry about. Even if that means I have to set them on fire from the inside out." I felt my teeth grinding and looked into Boyd's eyes. He knew I was done with fighting. It was time to put up or shut up and I refused to lose anyone else. If they wanted to know what I could do, I'd give them a firsthand demonstration of just why you shouldn't piss of the Nyvolore.


	7. To Build A Home

**[Derek's POV]**

I woke up slowly feeling the dull ache of my body moving for the first time after being healed from something incredibly strenuous. The sound of a storm outside was somehow comforting to the way that I felt. I ran my hand across the place where the throbbing was the worst and felt a bandage. I tore it from my skin to see the hole that once bored itself through me completely was no longer there. I rolled to the side of my bed and saw a glass of water sitting there. Maggie clearly took care of everything while I was passed out. I noticed the blood had been cleaned up and my clothes had been changed.

"Boyd came by earlier. Gave Maggie her injections. She's been out cold for about an hour." Cora leaned against the wall that separated the room we'd set up for her and the living room. She had her arms wrapped around her like she had earlier when she was panicking. She seemed calmer.

"You okay?" I asked pulling an annoyed scuffle from her.

"No Derek, I'm not okay. I'm freaking the hell out." Cora unwrapped her arms from around herself as I pushed myself up from the bed. My legs were tingling which meant someone pulled some of my pain.

"What are we going to do about the alpha pack? I have a feeling that the next time we run into them we won't be as lucky. We have to strike before they strike us again." Cora asserted. Her nerves were pouring out of her so I know she was speaking for a place of fear but I couldn't tell if the fear was of something happening to us or of the pack itself.

"You're right. We have to strike now when they least expect it." I nodded at her watching her recoil just from the surprise of my cooperation. She was right. The longer we waited to strike back, the more time they'd have to plan to try and make Maggie and I kill the people we cared about.

"But first we need to make some changes. We can't make it so easy for them to attack us like they did. The only reason they didn't kill you is because you're blood. They know there would be no winning either of us over if they killed you. Boyd and Isaac aren't safe here." I explained. The sound of the elevator being used by Isaac made me sigh.

"What are you going to tell him?" Cora asked almost too quietly as thunder boomed over her.

"I'm going to get rid of him the only way I know how. It's probably best you aren't in here." I nodded towards the other room that she was now staying in and she backed away with a nod and I turned towards the window with my glass of water, downing it just as Isaac pulled the door open.

"Hey, sorry I'm so late but I got my laundry done so Maggie will get off my back." Isaac tossed his bag of clothes next to the couch as I stared out the window. I didn't want to kick Isaac out. He was still pack and still very much my responsibility but we couldn't go through another loss like we had to with Erica. It just wasn't safe for him here.

"Derek?" Isaac called out my name snapping me from my thoughts.

"I'm going to need you to leave." I still hadn't face him.

"What do you mean?" He questioned clearly confused.

"I mean you can't live here anymore. You need to leave." I tried to keep my tone low and serious so he knew that it wasn't a request.

"I don't understand, did something happen? Is this about what I said about Cora because I was joking? I promise I won't hit on her." Isaac chuckled uncomfortably hearing Cora's heartbeat in the next room.

"There's just no room for you here now that Cora is here. Between trying to get Maggie and Cora to get along and dealing with everything else, it's just too much. We need to work on being a family instead of being a pack." I rubbed the empty glass on my pants knowing that my heartbeat was steady.

"I thought they were the same thing? Pack and family? Maggie always says-" I cut him off.

"Maggie isn't the alpha. I am." I raised my voice feeling Isaac tense up.

"I need you out tonight." I realized looking out the window that kicking him out right now was only adding insult to injury but there were no other options.

He laughed when lightening lit up the loft and thunder rolled seconds later.

"Where am I supposed to go?" He asked incredulously.

"Somewhere else." I said simply turning around and putting my glass on the table. Isaac moved away from the pillar he was once leaning on to take a step towards the table.

"Did I do something wrong Derek? Is this about what happened at the school? The twins came after me." I looked up at him not sure what he was talking about but if they'd sent the twins after Isaac then I knew I was making the right decision.

"You're doing something wrong by not leaving. Now get out." I gripped the glass again in anger.

"Come on Derek." Isaac started towards me and I knew I was going to have to use force.

"I said get out!" I pointed to the door once more but he kept coming towards me with an amused smile on his face like he could change my mind.

"GO!" I screamed pitching the glass at the pillar behind him and making him duck and cover. I could see his shoulder shaking. I knew what I had done and I hated myself for it but it had to be done. Isaac glanced over his shoulder at me disappointed and angry. I knew a fraction of what his father put him through but the night after I turned him, I remember him coming to the railcar to tell me about the fight they had and how his father had pelted a glass at him. He snatched his bag up from the floor and didn't bother looking back once he reached the door. It slammed shut heavily and I put both my hands down on the table to steady myself. I listened to his heartbeat grow progressively faster the moment he stepped out into the pouring rain in search of shelter. All I could hope is that he'd find someplace safer than here. Cora cleaned up the glass silently as I sat on the couch with my head in my hands. It wasn't until after she'd finished cleaning did she put her hand on my shoulder and give it a squeeze like she was letting me know I had done the right thing. I didn't know how much time I had to let it sink in before Maggie would be waking up and questioning me. There's no telling how this would all pan out but I knew she'd fight me on it. She fought me on most things. It's one of the things she was exceptionally good at which only further reminded me of just how much of a Hale she truly was.

"Hey, you look a lot better than when I last saw you." Maggie came down the stairs with a relieved smile on her face.

"Next time I tell you not to pull pain, listen." She scrunched her eyebrows together at me.

"No it was not a problem at all. You're so very welcome." She rolled her eyes walking towards the kitchen to retrieve a drink.

"I mean it Maggie. You need to save your strength. I have added healing capabilities as the alpha and you know that." I reminded her.

"God Derek you act like I'm waking up from a 10 year coma. Draining your pain didn't make me nap, my injections did. That and being pissed at Isaac for most of the day. You two are quite a burden on me." She joked looking towards the clock on the wall.

"Where is he anyway? It's getting late." I took a deep breathing catching her attention immediately.

"He's gone." I said listening for her heartbeat. It stuttered as she looked at me.

"What do you mean he's gone? Where did he go?" She pressed but this time Cora came around the corner looking at the both of us. When I didn't answer, Maggie looked to Cora.

"Deucalion wants you and Derek to join the alpha pack. In order to do that, you've got to kill your pack." Cora explained.

"Well that's not an option obviously. That still doesn't answer my question. Where the hell is Isaac?" She stepped towards me and I stood up from the couch.

"It's not safe for him here. I told him he had to leave." Maggie's eyes were wide as she gripped her hair.

"You kicked him out!? Are you freaking kidding me?" Maggie asked disbelievingly starting to pace.

"How could you do that? It's pouring out! Where would he even go? We're his only family." Maggie raised her voice in a panic.

"Maggie, this is for the best. Isaac isn't safe so close to us. If they have the access, they'll kill him at your feet just to prove a point." I explained making her shake her head.

"You let Erica and Boyd go and look how that panned out." I stepped back like she'd verbally slapped me across the face. She knew I'd always felt responsible for letting Erica and Boyd take off without knowing what they were really up against but she'd never fed that guilt. Cora stepped towards her like she was ready to intervene but I shook my head at her.

"Don't you get it Derek? Sending everyone away only gets them killed. We can't do this if we're separated. That's how we lose people." She argued.

"You can stand there and say that to me when you spent the entire summer hiding from the two people you care most about in this world because you wanted to protect them." I contended.

"And how did they find out?! You opened your mouth. They're in this now _because_ of you. Now you want to toss Isaac out and just pray for the best?" Maggie screamed over the thunder. It seemed the angrier she got, the more the storm raged.

"He's not safe here Maggie." I pursed my lips trying to stay level headed.

"I've got to find him." She tried to push past me but I grabbed her arm.

_"Where am I supposed to go?" "Somewhere else." "Did I do something wrong Derek? Is this about what happened at the school? The twins came after me." "You're doing something wrong by not leaving. Now get out." "Come on Derek" "I said get out!" "GO!" I screamed pitching the glass at the pillar behind him and making him duck and cover._

I let go of Maggie and she pushed away from me. I hadn't meant for her to know the details of how I kicked Isaac out but we were both so emotional in that moment that I must have been vulnerable to her latching.

"Maggie…" Her name rolled off my tongue like a plea but she bit her lip harshly to keep from saying whatever it was that was on the tip of her tongue, ready to cut me to shreds. She ran up the spiral steps and started rummaging through things in her room while Cora looked at me confused.

When Maggie reemerged, she had two huge bags over her leather clad shoulder and her boots hitting the floor with a repetitive thud as she bounded down the steps. The bags were practically overflowing with magic books, weaponry and some of her clothes. It was the same duffle bags she used to move from the waterfront house to the loft. I knew exactly what she was doing.

"Maggie please don't do this." I implored. She didn't even bat an eyelash as she jerked her arm out of reach as she passed. She yanked the door open and slammed it shut with force someone her size shouldn't be able to do. I clenched my teeth, grinding them together so I wouldn't say anything that would make it worse as she stormed out of the building in search of Isaac. The tires squealed as she peeled wheels out of the lot and down the road.

"What the hell was that?" Cora asked when I finally unclenched my teeth.

"She's obviously going to find Isaac, I thought that was pretty self-explanatory." I waved my hand at the door turning away from Cora.

"No I meant when you grabbed her and blacked out. She looked like you were electrocuting her." There was so much about what Maggie was that Cora didn't know yet.

"Do you remember those stories mom told us when were kids. The one about the baby who would grow up to rule every creature because her abilities extended past anything imaginable?" Cora's eyes narrowed at me.

"Yeah but it was just a story." Cora shrugged.

"It wasn't just a story. Maggie is that creature. She's not just a hybrid, she's the hybrid. She's the Nyvolore. The things she can do would blow your mind." I tried to explain but even I hadn't seen all of Maggie's abilities yet.

"I want to know everything. Not just what happened over the summer? I want to know everything." Cora held her chin up like she was more prepared now to know about the last year here in Beacon Hills then she ever could be. Maybe if she knew why Maggie was the way she was, it would help understand her more. She could understand why Maggie had such a hold on me and how her leaving affected me more than I'd care to admit.

**[Scott's POV]**

It was pouring outside tonight as I did my homework. Isaac had left not even an hour ago after having dinner with mom and I which was surprisingly relaxed. He didn't say much about what happened to him over the summer as far as the alpha pack was concerned but he did talk about Derek training him to use his senses better and Maggie making sure they had dinner together to maintain closeness. There were times where mom would step too close to an uncomfortable question and he'd back pedal but all in all, he seemed pretty forthcoming. It was actually kind of nice to just do normal things with him. He wasn't a bad guy at all.

A knock at the door made me get back to working on my homework.

"Come in, Mom." I said without even bothering to look at the door. She probably wanted to ask me about Isaac some more. She seemed to be intrigued by how he survived living without both his parents but I reminded her that Maggie had been with him for the summer.

When I turned around, it wasn't my mom standing there. It was Isaac. He was soaked all the way through from the rain, his clothes clinging to him and he almost looked shaken.

"I was wondering if I could ask you a favor?" He lifted his eyes from the floor to look at me and I jumped up from my chair to get him a towel.

"Dude what the hell happened to you?" He sat his bag down and put his face in the towel to dry off.

"Derek kind of kicked me out. Well he didn't kind of kick me out. He did, in a really shit way too." Isaac shook his head and I tried to wrap mine around what Derek was doing.

"I didn't really know where else to go. I was thinking of crashing at Maggie's waterfront house but I'm pretty sure Nathan is back and I don't want to make problems for Maggie since she hasn't gone to see him yet. I obviously don't have any family so-" Isaac looked defeated, borderline ashamed to even ask me for help.

"You can totally stay here man. Maggie isn't using the guest room anymore and I know mom won't mind the company. It's totally cool." I was quick to ease his mind and he seemed instantly relieved.

"Are you sure? I mean I don't want to cause any problems. I can talk to Maggie and-"

"Does she not know?" I asked curiously.

"No there's no way she'd allow it. I mean I know she's pissed about me acting out with the twins but she wouldn't punish me by making me homeless. Something tells me this is one of those spur of the moment Derek decisions." Isaac explained.

"Because those always work out for all involved." I rolled my eyes but it made Isaac laugh.

"Yeah…do you think I could shower? It's kinda raining out there." He gestured to the window as lightening lit up my room. I got him some more towels while he pulled some dry clothes from his bag. I walked into the hallway once he got in the shower and mom was holding fresh sheets.

"Did you hear all that?" I asked unsure but she scrunched her face.

"Honey, I hear everything. I'll change the sheets on the bed but you should really give Maggie a call. Let her know he's safe." Mom walked into the guest room and started setting Isaac up. I grabbed my phone and hit Maggie's number. She didn't answer so I decided I should probably leave a message just to be safe.

"Hey, Isaac just showed up over here pretty shaken up. He's alright now so don't worry. I just wanted to let you know he's safe." I hung up the phone and walked into the guest room to see Isaac holding one of the pillows off the bed to his face.

"It still kind of smells like Maggie." I pointed out making him look over at me.

"Yeah it's kind of comforting." Isaac said but looked like he quickly needed to explain himself.

"We didn't…we never…" I put my hand up to stop him.

"You don't have to tell me." I dismissed but he shook his head.

"I don't but you should know that I've only ever been respectful of Maggie. We both sort of needed someone this summer and I was there for her as much as I could be but _that_ didn't happen. It took me a while to figure it out but I think our bond is more of a protective one, not so much a love sort of thing." We exchanged a look of understanding.

"She loves you, I know she does." I spoke up but he shook his head.

"Not like she loves Stiles…more like how she loves you just less intense." I looked down at my feet unsure of how to respond. He cleared his throat cutting through the silence.

"She missed you every day, you know. Not like she missed Stiles. I mean we both know how she feels about Stiles but you are kind of her life line. To her, you are the only person connecting her to the family she lost and the family she has. You might not feel like it right now but you're important to her. The love she has for you is unlike any other I've ever seen. That's why she pushes you so far away from all of this." I couldn't say Isaac's words weren't a comfort. I didn't quite know what to say so I pointed to the stairs.

"Let me get you an extra blanket. I know how cold rain can really soak through the bones even with the extra body heat." I walked to the hallway closet and leaned my head against the door. The only bits and pieces I knew about Maggie's struggle over the summer, I'd gotten from Isaac and nothing sounded simple. I spent the summer worrying about her and Stiles but to think I had the focus to get through summer school and start SAT prep while she was getting tortured and hunted made my stomach turn. I knew Isaac was trying to comfort me in some way but it only made me feel guilty. I should have pressed harder. I should have searched longer. Anything but let her get this far away from me.

I grabbed the blanket and headed back towards the guest room. Before I could say anything, I saw Isaac had already passed out clutching Maggie's pillow to his chest, curled into the fetal position on the bed. I covered him carefully and pulled the door shut behind myself to see my mom waiting in the hallway.

"How's he doing?" Mom asked with her hand to her mouth.

"He's passed out. He should be alright. I have a feeling he walked all the way here so I'm sure he's beat." I waved my mom off but she held a concerned expression.

"It's okay if he stays for a bit right?" I wanted to double check since I kind of sprung this on her.

"Of course it is. I just want to make sure he's okay." Mom reached out and grabbed my hand to give it a reassuring squeeze which I took happily. Sometimes I think about all my friends who have to suffer without their mom's and I truly feel blessed that I still have mine who loves and supports me no matter what.

"Have you reached Maggie?" Mom asked just as I picked up a frantic heartbeat coming up the sidewalk. I ran down the steps and met Maggie as she burst through the front door.

"Where is he? Is he okay?" She looked around me up the stairs walking from the foyer to the living room and back.

"Maggie calm down, he's upstairs sleeping." Maggie paced the floor rubbing at her forehead with relief.

"I need to see him. I need to know he's alright." She pressed stepped towards me with hesitation like she was afraid I'd reach out and touch her but I've learned recently that she isn't okay with that right now. Not like she used to be anyway.

"Come on." I gestured up the stairs and she skipped them two at a time before opening the door carefully so she wouldn't wake him. I watched her walk slowly over towards him, light snores let his lips as she sat down next to him and gently stroked his hair. I knew Maggie cared about Isaac but watching her lovingly stroke his hair trying to soothe his tension seemed more like something you'd do to a child. Maggie felt responsible for Isaac just like I did but the love she had for the betas that Derek turned ran deeper than just good friends. Isaac and Boyd were family now which meant no matter what, I'd do whatever I could to protect them.

"I'm so sorry. I promise I'll make this right. I promise." She leaned forward and kissed Isaac's head making him stir just barely before getting to her feet and hardening her stance. She walked past me and I shut the door, following her back down the stairs.

"It's probably best to let him sleep here tonight. He's been through enough. It'll give me time to make up the guest room at the waterfront house." She crossed her arms over her chest, rubbing absently at her jacket like she was afraid of being judged or something.

"You're moving back home?" I asked making her look up at me.

"After the crap Derek pulled, yeah I'm moving home. He's being a real jackass and I can't focus on keeping everyone alive if he's playing scared." I couldn't imagine what Derek had done to have fallen from Maggie's grace so quickly.

"You know, it's okay if Isaac stays. He seems to like your old room. Mom is totally cool with it. It's actually cool to have another guy around the house." I dug my hands into my pockets and she shook her head fiercely.

"I couldn't ask you to do that. He's not your burden." She dismissed but I chuckled.

"He's not a burden at all. He's family." She looked surprised at my response. She cut her eyes anywhere away from mine.

"If he wants to stay and you're both okay with it then I don't see why not." She shrugged. I could tell she was still having doubts so I took a step towards her.

"He's safe here. I promise. I won't let anything happen to him." I knew she wasn't listening to my heart to see how sincere I was. She knew me better than that.

"I know you will." She breathed unfolding her arms like she was tired of putting up a front.

"Maybe you're right. Maybe he's safest with you. No one should be around Derek and I right now." She conceded. I should have known she wasn't going to let her guard down that easily.

"Just because Isaac's staying here doesn't mean you're going up against the alpha pack alone." I took another step towards her without her moving away and I know she could feel my intense need to protect her.

"Being pack to us right now means being on a hit list. If you all stay clear of us then there won't be any pack to kill." She explained like things were that cut and dry with the alpha pack.

"You and I both know it won't be that easy. If we stick together-" This time when I moved into her space, she didn't back away. She tensed like she was about to crumble into pieces.

"Scott…I am on the verge of self-destructing and all I can think about is how badly I don't want you around to see that part of me." Her voice was broken and it was tearing me up inside just to hear how terrified she actually was.

"Maggie you aren't a monster." I could smell Maggie's sadness standing so close to her and she shook off a frown and gave me a forced smile.

"You're right. I'm what monsters have nightmares about." She looked over my shoulder as mom came into the room.

"Thank you for taking care of him a few weeks ago and for letting him stay. If he needs anything or you need anything, just call." I knew my mom wanted to do the same thing I wanted to do and that's wrap her up in our arms and tell her that she isn't alone but mom knew better.

"You do the same sweetie. You know we're still here no matter what." Mom insisted earning a compulsory smile. This time Maggie stepped into my space.

"Isaac told me that Allison was at the school the night we wrangled Boyd and Cora. Whatever she's doing, she needs to be smart. Make her understand that his isn't a game. Deucalion has history with the Hales which means he's got history with the Argent's. If you need anything, you know where to find me." Maggie slid an arrowhead into my hand carefully before giving me a look and heading back out into the rain. I watched her drive away and felt the shape arrowhead slice at my skin. I turned around and grabbed my jacket off the coat rack and the keys from the table.

"Can you keep an eye on him while I handle this?" Mom smiled sympathetically before pulling my head down to kiss.

"Be careful. I've got this." She assured me. The drive over to Allison's was almost as nerve-wracking as Maggie's visit. I couldn't shake her demeanor. Maggie never tried to show fear. She was always the one reassuring me that we could handle anything but this time was different. This time I questioned whether or not we could handle this. I texted Allison letting her know I needed to stop by and she didn't seem to have any objections. It was strange that they had sold their house and got an apartment but I guess after what happened with her mom, she wouldn't really want to stay there. It was a nice complex with a doorman and everything. I pressed the elevator button and waited for the doors to open.

"Hello Scott." My entire body tensed hearing the drawl of the voice that walked into the elevator next to me. Deucalion held onto his cane with ease as he reached for the buttons.

"Going up to see the Argent's I assume." He hit the number I needed and smiled. I instantly let my claws out in case he tried anything.

"Come on Scott. Put those away. I'd have to be blind, deaf and quadriplegic for you to be an actual threat or maybe you should take a chance." He turned his body towards me and closed his eyes.

"Your heartbeat is steady. You may be afraid of me but you're controlling it. Maggie was able to control hers too. That was of course before Kali and the twins started in on Isaac." His smug grin held an almost sadistic sneer to it that gave me chills but I knew I had to keep my cool.

"Maybe you would rise to the occasion and become an alpha by killing one." He pointed out.

"I'm not like you. I don't have to kill people." I said firmly keeping my eyes on him and my claws out. I didn't trust him one bit and I wasn't going to let him get the upper hand.

"Not yet but situations come about, situations where you realize the only way to protect one person is to kill another. Maggie found that out the hard way. What she didn't realize is that she was born a killer. What she is, what she's made of, it's meant to destroy anything and everything that stands in her way. She's quite immaculate." The more Deucalion talked about Maggie, the more I felt like he was baiting me.

"I don't know why you're here but I know Maggie. I know her better than anyone and she's not a killer. She may have done things to stay alive or protect her family but she's not a killer." There were times where Deucalion looked at me where it felt like he not only could see me but he could stare right through to my soul.

"Killer, murderer, butcher, it's all the same Scott. You're right about one thing however. She has done things but that's not what makes her a killer. What makes her a killer is when she enjoys it and decides it's the only option. I gave her that push. I showed her that side of herself. Once you see it, you'll know too." Deucalion stepped towards me.

"What do you want?" We were coming to an impasse as the elevator climbed dangerously close to the Argent's floor.

"I want to see what you're made of." He closed in on me as if he was sizing me up when the elevator let out a loud ding, halting on the Argent's floor. I stepped off the elevator as more people piled in and watched him smile as he walked to the back.

"Can someone please hit the Penthouse button?" As the doors closed in my face, I connected the dots. The Alpha pack was living in the same building with the Argent's which meant they were in more danger than Maggie could have anticipated.

**[Maggie's POV]**

I walked into the house and shook my wet hair out. The rain had kept coming down just as hard the entire drive here. I heard heavy feet bounding the stairs and Nathan practically jumped down them with a bat in his hands.

"Surprise?" I put my hands out like I was giving him awkward jazz hands and he stared at me almost confused.

"I know it's been a while but I'm going to assume you remember who I am." I tossed my bags on the ground and Nathan dropped the bat, jumping down the remainder of the steps to pick me up into a tight hug. My feet left the ground and my arms were trapped against my body as he held onto me.

"Jesus Kid! It's damn good to see you but try not to give me a heart attack next time." I could feel Nathan's heartbeat against my chest. I hadn't realized how showing up without warning could have caught him off guard but at least he seemed happy to see me. He put me down and looked me over.

"What are you doing here? Not that I'm not happy to see you but I haven't heard from you, which by the way, you're grounded." Nathan pointed at me and I chuckled.

"I don't have many friends these days anyway. You're cool with me moving back now that you're home right?" I asked seeing his eyebrows go up.

"Hell yeah! I mean of course. Is everything okay with Derek? I haven't heard from him either so he totally loses points on the whole guardianship front." Nathan picked up on of my bags and helped carry it up the stairs. Everything in the house smelled the same, minus the dust that had collected that Nathan seemed to try and get rid of but did a pretty horrible job. I could add that to the list of minuscule spells I needed to do later, another being strengthening the protection spells on both Scott's house and here.

"So catch me up Kid. What the hell has kept you so wrapped up that you couldn't give me a heads up?" Nathan asked as I walked into my old room and let out a heavy sigh or the last time I was in here. I was gathering clothes for Cora after Erica's death. The time before that I listened to Stiles drunkenly wish he'd never fallen for me. Now here I was adding another shit memory to the pile.

"I'm actually really tired Nate. You think maybe we could talk about it tomorrow?" I turned around to face him and he frowned.

"Yeah, yeah of course. Get some rest." Nathan stood in the door for a few moments before walking over and hugging me again. I let him.

"It's just good to see you again. Holler if you need anything." Nathan pulled the door shut slowly behind himself and I tossed my bag on the bed. I hadn't planned on sleeping tonight. I just wanted to get some things put away. Lydia had texted me about something she and Stiles found on the sacrifices. Something about a Darach. I pulled out every book I had brought home with me to start looking into what a dark druid would possibly need sacrifices for and it turns out the answer to that question was something that none of us were ready to deal with. My phone buzzed a few times throughout the night with texts from Derek but I didn't bother answering them. I knew Scott would call if anything came up with Isaac and Boyd had developed a bond with Cora so I knew he was taken care of as well. Right now, I needed to focus on stopping these sacrifices because according to what I was reading, there were going to be a lot more innocent lives taken before it was all said and done.

I had been so engrossed in what I was doing, I didn't noticed the sun had come up until I heard Stiles jeep pull down the gravel driveway. I looked at my phone thinking I might have missed a call but there was nothing from him. I looked around the room and saw the progress of my unpacking which was basically clothes strewn about the room and books all over the bed. I quickly tried to change out of the clothes I had put on once my jeans had gotten too uncomfortable. I hadn't quite gotten my shirt on when the door opened.

"Hey it's 2PM you should be-WHOA! My bad! My bad!" I spun away from Stiles to finished getting dressed and his heart was racing.

"Typically you shut the door and wait outside but whatever works for you." I jerked my tank on and pulled my hair back. He licked his lips like his mouth had suddenly gone dry.

"Yeah sorry. I was just down at the tavern and Nathan said you were still sleeping. I figured I'd bring you lunch." Stiles shook his head holding up a sandwich in one hand and a drink in the other.

"You didn't have to do that." I rubbed the back of my neck trying to pick up some of the clothes from the floor and tossing them into the bathroom. Stiles took the chair from my computer stand and sat down on it.

"Please make yourself at home." I rolled my eyes too tired to even try to argue with him. I didn't know why he was here but I'm sure it had something to do with Scott.

"Scott told me about Derek kicking Isaac out. Is that why you moved back here?" He asked opening the sandwich and taking a half of it. I noticed how he didn't refer to the house as my home. I knew he still had lingering doubts about this place being my home but it was, for whatever that was worth.

"It got too crowded in the loft. It was time to come home anyway. Nathan is here and I promised him I'd come back when he did." Stiles kept looking down at his hands. I could tell something was on his mind and almost dreaded him throwing anymore into my lap at the moment.

"So I thought all werewolves had that special healing that kept them from getting scars." I froze standing in front of the closet. I hadn't gotten around to fixing the scars on my back yet and I must have forgotten they were back there in my haste to get dressed.

"I was hoping you didn't see those." I turned back towards him, self-conscious that he could see them even through my tank.

"Well I did and I'm worried about them." He looked up at me from the chair, his hands still folded together. I tried not to think about what he must think. I hated that Derek and Isaac had seen them. I hated that they were a reminder of how close I was to saving Boyd and Erica. I hated that they made me feel disgusting.

"You don't have to be. I'm actually looking into a spell to get rid of them, I just haven't had the time." I tried brushing it off but Stiles was never one to let things go.

"Did the alphas do that to you?" He swallowed a lump of disgust that must have grown in his throat. I nodded at him.

"Um yeah. It was my own fault though. I make weapons to hurt werewolves. I run the risk of hurting myself in the process." I explained as briefly as I could, turning back to the bag and putting it in the closet.

"Did they torture you?" He pressed harder making me spin around to stop his interrogation instantly.

"Stiles please…don't push me to talk about it okay? It was hard enough living through it once" I pleaded with him. I couldn't do that to him. I couldn't put what happened to me on his shoulders because I knew that's who he was. Just staring at his face while he bit his tongue was hard enough. He took a bite of the sandwich he had brought with him and glanced over at me when I stared at his attempt of squashing the subject.

"There's still half a sandwich for you. Don't give me that look, I eat when I'm anxious." Stiles put the sandwich down on the desk.

"If being here makes you nervous then you can leave. I'm fine. I don't need you to check up on me." I insisted but this time he was the one rolling his eyes.

"Oh I know that. I've resisted checking up on you since you decided to reappeared but I typically go to Scott's and vent about how stubborn and obnoxious you are and I can't do that now that Isaac is living there." Stiles complained pulling at one of the books on the bed. I swatted his hand away.

"What does Isaac being there have to do with anything? At this point, he might even join you in your rants about how much I suck." I offered but he narrowed his eyes.

"I don't want to talk shit with Isaac. The guy wears winter sweaters in 80 degree California heat. He makes stupid, pointless comments during really unneeded times and his face is…annoying." Stiles leaned back in the chair and I had to bit my lip to keep from chuckling. He noticed.

"Wasn't it you that once told me the day I gave Lydia Martin a chance is the day you welcome Isaac into the family?" Stiles pulled a face.

"Yeah but then it seemed pretty impractical to think you'd ever be friends with Lydia. Now you're…I don't even know what you are but it's shocking." Stiles put his hand on his chest. I looked down at the books and he cleared his throat.

"Don't think I didn't see you almost smile by the way. I totally saw it. You keep doing that, you know. I won't tell anyone if you did crack one. It happens. Life can be pretty entertaining sometimes." Stiles leaned forward on his knees and I cut my eyes through my hair.

"It won't be if these sacrifices keep happening at the pace they're occurring. There's still at least 10 more sacrifices according to…well most of the things I'm reading." Stiles got up to join me on the bed but stopped himself. I looked up at him as he grabbed the chair and rolled it towards the bed. The last time we were on it together, we were making plans for the summer and making out. It seemed like a lifetime ago.

"How did you…" He looked at me once he read that I was researching dark druids.

"I've talked to both Lydia and Deaton already. According to most of the text on a Darach, they need a cluster of victims to complete their end game which is why you should stay out of this." I closed the book he was looking in and he pulled his hand back.

"Why would they need 10 more virgins? I mean there really can't be that many left in Beacon Hills so it kind of concerns me." Stiles blushed slightly and I thought back to the talk we had when confessed to saving that for me.

"I told you I would protect you. Besides, it's not always virgins. It depends on what they're trying to power. I doubt this druid is trying to have plentiful crops." I explained.

"First of all, if they wanted plentiful crops they came to the wrong place. California will either be completely dried out or an island in a few years. Second, I don't need you to protect me. I can protect myself. I just would prefer to actually get to the sex part before dying." Stiles joked not even realizing the gravity of the situation. I got up from the bed and stood over him making him push back uncomfortably. Without warning, I whacked Stiles in the head with my palm making him rear back.

"OW! What the hell was that for?" He asked rubbing his head.

"You think you can protect yourself? Prove it." I swung at him again and caught his shoulder making him roll out of the chair.

"What the fuck? Stop hitting me!" He yelled now rubbing his shoulder. I crossed the floor and threw another hand at him but this time he stopped me.

"I'm not doing this with you. Stop!" His demeanor change to tense and serious as he should be.

"Is that your plan if someone walks up to you and starts trying to hurt you? Just tell them to stop? Call uncle?" I kicked my legs out at him and caught his shin.

"What are you going to do if you're all alone without Scott to save your ass, without your dad to arrest them?" I mocked him and could tell he was getting frustrated.

"Cut it out! I mean it!" He raised his voice as I hit him in the chest.

"I'm not using any extra force. Nothing supernatural at all so you're just letting a girl that stands in at 5 foot nothing slap box you right now." I said as he back into the wall with his hands up.

"I'm not going to fight you." He said through tight lips trying to push past me but I pushed him into the wall.

"So that's it? This is you protecting yourself? This is pathetic. You think you can manage on your own but the only thing you're managing to do is get your ass kicked by a girl." I swung on Stiles again but this time he caught my arm. We locked eyes and I swung my other arm which he also caught. He raised his eyebrows like he'd shown me up but I just tilted my head to the side. He knew what I was about to do.

"Don't-" Before he could get the words out, I kneed him in the groin taking him to his knees.

"This isn't a game Stiles. People are dying. More people will die and you are just as vulnerable as every other person waking around. The only advantage you have is that you know what goes bump in the night." Stiles pushed his head forward and scooped my legs out from under me making me fall to the floor. When I saw his face, I could tell I'd struck a nerve. I went to kick my leg out and he grabbed both of them sitting on them at the knees trying to keep me on the floor but I sprang up towards him just in time for him to grab my arms and pin me to the floor. He shifted his weight on top of me not wanting to crush me but I could tell he was done taking my abuse. I struggled and actually considering using my wolf strength but I knew I was only out of breath and weak from not sleeping the night before.

"Stop acting like you're the only one feeling this pain. I lost someone too and I know the severity of the situation, both of them but that doesn't mean I'm going to sit up in my room by myself and hide like the fate of everyone is in my hands. I know how to defend myself and if the situation calls for it, I will." Stiles gritted out as he held me down.

"Apparently." I breathed opening my hands in surrender. His eyes darted to my lips and I stopped fighting him, letting the tension out of my body. He instantly lightened his grip and I flipped him over and kicking my legs out to keep his apart. Stiles struggled against me before freezing and looking at the window.

"Derek?" He said confused and I turned to look. It was my mistake though because Stiles flipped me like I had flipped him moments before practically crushing me with his body. He pushed off of me and put his hands up like he'd given up.

"I didn't come here for this." He turned his back on me, cheeks blotched from exertion but I didn't want to let him go that easily. I ran towards him only to be spun into the wall. His feet pressed down on top of mine to keep from catching another knee and it actually hurt.

"OW…okay I get it." I gave up. Stiles didn't look like he enjoyed the victory however. He looked hurt.

"You really don't but I'm done trying to make you even understand." He let me go and I let my arms slide down the walls as he stood out of breath in front of me. I looked up at him and felt that part of me that lingered in the pit of my stomach that wanted to reach up and stroke his face. I could feel his breath on my lip and the only thing that took my attention away from him was my phone buzzing on the bed. He took a few careful steps back from me and fixed his shirt.

"I don't know if you were faking me out or not but if I did actually hurt you then I'm sorry." Stiles apologized and I let out a dry chuckle.

"I'm okay." Stiles huffed at the response.

"Do you ever get tired of lying to people? " I looked over at Stiles. He shook his head.

"Or have you just convinced yourself that the lies are the truth?" I looked down at my feet that had Stiles shoe tread slowly being erased from them. Stiles went to brush past me and I grabbed his arm stopping him. I don't know why I did it but I did and now he was standing close enough for me to have his heartbeat be the only thing I could hear in my head. He let his tongue flit across his bottom lip as he turned his body back towards me but I didn't know what to do or say.

"Hate to interrupt but you weren't answering your phone." Stiles and I both jumped at the voice standing at the door. Cora was leaning against the frame with her arms crossed over her chest like she was incredibly put out by having to be here.

"I was just…heading out." Stiles rubbed the back of his neck as a blush crept up it exiting and getting a look over by Cora passing her on his way out. I went back over to my bed shaking what just happened off and trying not to let Cora know that she had actually walked in on something that could have been a disaster.

"Boyd said you had a thing for the gangly one but I didn't realize it was that serious." Cora surveyed my room, looking at the pictures that I had taken down last night once I got tired of looking at them. There was a framed one of Stiles, Scott and I on the nightstand that I had turned down and she picked it up.

"There's nothing going on with Stiles. He came by to ask about the human sacrifices. That's all." Cora snorted a laugh at me.

"You can feed him that lie and eat your own BS soup but I'm a werewolf. People don't give off that scent unless there is some kind of connection." She sat the picture down and looked at the books scattered on the bed.

"Good to know you're distracting yourself with things that have nothing to do with our currently dilemma." Cora closed one of the books with her index finger.

"Is there something I could help you with Cora? I'm not really in the mood for chit chat." I cut to the chase and she picked up my phone.

"Boyd and I found out where the alphas are staying. We're going after them. Derek has been trying to call but I guess you've been too busy rolling around with Stiles to notice." I jumped up and snatched my phone out of her hand.

"I've been busy. What time are we going after them?" I asked glancing at the clock.

"We're meeting at the loft to discuss the details. Unless you're busy." Cora was testing my patience and I could tell.

"I'll be there." I watched her walk back towards the door and turn to look at me.

"Derek did the right thing, kicking Isaac out. You weren't there. You didn't see what they did to Derek." Cora defended. She held her chin up high before slamming the door shut behind herself. I ran my hands down my face trying to collect my thoughts. I took a shower trying to wash the encounter with Stiles off my skin and out of my head. There was no room to think about that right now. Not when we were about to go into battle with the alphas again. I wanted this to be the last time. I was tired of letting them threaten the people I cared about.

I got dressed and drove down to the tavern where I knew Nathan would be according to the note he left on the counter. I felt a wave of sadness waft out of the door and hit me in the face. I was almost unsure if I wanted to enter but Nathan was shaking the hand of a man who was weeping at the bar and he noticed me standing outside. I gave him a slight wave and he walked out towards me.

"Hey what's going on?" I asked gesturing to the people walking in and out of the bar.

"A buddy of mine just lost his son. Apparently he was killed the other night. They found him at school. You might have known him-"

"Kyle Gunderson? Yeah I saw. How do you know his dad?" I asked looking over his shoulder and completely missing the pointed look Nathan was giving me.

"We've done business together. Do you know something about what happened to him? Like all I'm hearing was that it was really horrible but if this has something to do with that pack-" I cut Nathan off.

"The two things aren't connected." I dismissed quickly looking around suspiciously to make sure we weren't drawing attention.

"But you know who killed him?" I looked up at Nathan and let out a sigh which seemed to make him even more stressed.

"This guy may have murdered a friend of mine's kid. A kid, Maggie. I need to know what's going on." Nathan pulled me to the side away from the customers entering for the wake.

"The alpha pack didn't kill him. He was one of the human sacrifices made by the Darach." I kept my voice down but judging by the face Nathan gave me, he heard me loud and clear.

"The Darach sacrificed him…well that makes perfect sense." He pouted his lips out sarcastically and shrugged.

"It's complicated." I didn't really have the time to explain the entire situation to Nathan and he could tell I was blowing him off again. He threw his hands out in frustration.

"Of course it is! First you completely shut me out over the summer and now the secrets are back. God teenagers really do suck. Did I suck this much as a teenager?" Nathan started questioning himself and pacing in place. I did feel bad that I didn't keep up the calls with Nathan but after I almost lost Isaac, I didn't have the heart to keep calling just to lie to him. I knew Derek was keeping up with him but I just couldn't. I didn't want something to happen to me and Nathan think it was his fault for not stepping in.

"I tried! Things got so crazy this summer and I didn't want to call you just to lie to you. I was trying to protect you." I pointed out making him instantly look defeated.

"Secrets don't protect people, Kid. You of all people know that. Look what your dad did to you." Nathan didn't know just how close Peter and I had become in his absence and I didn't think now was really the time to throw it out there.

"Nate, I'm sorry. I'm just…scared of losing anyone else." Nathan's face finally fell and he shook his head at me. I wanted so badly to reconnect with him and tell him that everything was going to be alright but it wasn't. I knew things were going to get worse before they got better, bloodier even. Now the second threat has already started going after humans and we were running out of time to figure things out.

"Look, I know you walk around with the weight of the world literally planted on your shoulders but whatever you think you can't tell me, whatever you think I can't handle, you're wrong. You are not alone in this Kid. Stop thinking that everyone around you is glass waiting to be shattered. Give us a little credit." Nathan gave my shoulder a squeeze and I put my hand on his trying to soothe his anxiety. He pulled on my shoulder so that I would stumble into his chest.

"You've become quite the hugger in your time away which worries me. I didn't realize men of the sea were so touchy feely." I teased as he hugged me to his chest again.

"No I just know you're about to tell me you're running off again and with you I'm never sure if you'll come back so let me have this okay?" I wasn't sure if Nathan was kidding or being serious but it made me feel like a total asshole. That's the person I'd become. The girl who runs from the people she cares about. I hated it but that's what my life was now.

"I'm going to Derek's. I'll be back later." I assured him before walking back to the car. I could feel Nathan watching me as I got into the car and started up the road. It wasn't fair that I had been dumped in his lap but he was surprisingly accepting of a lot of things most people would explode about. I think he knew there was no point trying to restrain me because I had responsibilities. The whole way to Derek's my rage started to rebuild. Thinking of that latch I had with Derek only to find out that he was such a prick to Isaac only made me more annoyed. I pulled up to see a familiar black Lexus.

"You stink of angst already. Are you sure living with a human is what is best for you?" Peter wrinkled his nose as I got out of the car and shut the door.

"It's not the humans that make me angsty. It's the werewolves." Peter followed me onto the elevator and chuckled.

"You seem a bit tense sweetheart. Are you sure you're sleeping enough?" He could probably see the exhaustion on my face but when he reached out to touch my face I swatted at his hand.

"Don't test what little patience I have." I pulled the door to the loft open and Derek stood up straight from where he was leaning on the table. Boyd and Cora were standing next to him.

"Thanks for not being on time. It's not like we're trying to make big plans or anything." Cora snarked.

"You didn't give me a time, you just said to meet you here. I'm here. Take a breath." I walked up to the table and looked at the blueprints that were spread out. I felt Derek shift on his feet to walk towards me and I moved around the table to take a seat.

"This is where Allison and her dad moved." I realized the layout of the blueprints was for the familiar apartment complex. I had seen Chris moving their things in over the summer.

"That's where the alphas are staying." Derek ran his finger across the blueprints.

"I knew it. They're keeping an eye on everyone, not just us." I shook my head hoping that Scott had talked to Allison like I had asked. As if I'd summoned him just by saying his name, Scott pulled the heavy door open and walked through it.

"I know where they are." Scott declared out of breath.

"Same building as the Argent's, we know." Derek informed him.

"Cora and I followed the twins." Scott looked over at me and I held my hands up.

"I just found out myself." I explained. He walked further into the loft looking at us in surprise.

"Then they want you to know. There's no way they'd just let you find out where lair is." Scott's terminology made me sigh as Cora rolled her eyes.

"It's an apartment Scott. It's not a lair. They're werewolves, not super villains." I corrected.

"I said the same thing to your sidekick. How very father/daughter bond like." Peter smiled at me proudly.

"Can we stay focused here?" Derek interrupted the moment Peter thought we were having.

"Yes of course. It's more likely that Deucalion just doesn't care that we know where they are." Peter leaned on the table making Scott approach to see what we were looking at.

"What is this?" He stood across from me, scanning the blueprints laid out in front of us.

"Isn't it obvious? The schemers are scheming. Coming up with a _coup de main_." Scott looked up at me not sure what Peter was talking about.

"It's a preemptive strike." I explained watching his eyebrows go up.

"You're going after them?" Scott looked at Derek like he was crazy.

"Tomorrow night and judging by your presence, I'm assuming you're going to help us." Now I was looking at Derek like he was crazy.

"Derek, what are you-" Scott cut me off.

"What's the plan?" I looked from Cora to Boyd and then back to Derek. I could see how this was going to go. Derek ran down the plan on how we would infiltrate the building and override the power system. He made it sound so easy like getting in and killing them would be a lot simpler than we could imagine but we knew without a doubt that it would be much harder.

"So that's it? Kill them first?" Scott sounded upset. I knew how he felt about Derek's murder logic but there was no other option for the alpha pack. Not after what they'd done. Not after Erica.

"They'll never see it coming." Boyd tried to reassure Scott but I knew that's not what he needed.

"Why's the default plan always murder? Just once can someone try to come up with something that doesn't involve killing everyone?" Scott implored desperately.

"Do you ever get tired of being blandly moral?" I elbowed Peter in the side.

"What? I mean I don't disagree with him but his golden boy routine gives me indigestion." Peter gestured to his stomach.

"I disagree with him. Why do we even need this kid?" Cora eyed Scott viciously but before I could jump her shit, Derek crossed his arms over his chest.

"This kid helped save your life so show him a little respect." Scott gave Derek a thankful nod and it was returned. I wasn't sure if Derek was trying to make up for being a dick to Isaac by showing some actual kindness to Scott or if he was being genuine.

"We can't just sit back and wait for them to make the first move." Derek continued.

"We can't beat a pack of alphas." Scott dismissed.

"Not the whole pack, just Deucalion." Cora spoke up with less tension towards Scott.

"Cut off the head of the snake and the body dies." Boyd sounded so optimistic, it kind of felt like a gut punch.

"This isn't just a snake, it's a hydra and like Scott says, they're all alphas." I watched them all discuss the plans, Peter being on Scott's side of things and Derek, Cora and Boyd being on the opposite.

"Deucalion is still the leader." Derek reaffirmed.

"Let's hope so because you know what happened when Hercules cut off one of the heads of the Hydra?" Peter turned to Derek trying to challenge his plan.

"Two more grew back in it's place." Scott answered making all of us look towards him.

"Someone's been doing their summer reading." Peter smiled mockingly.

"I don't understand why we can't consider another option. Why does murder always have to be the final answer?" Scott tried to challenge the plan once more.

"Because that's what they deserve Scott." I felt Scott's gaze land on me and I looked up at him from leaning on the table.

"They kidnapped, tortured and murdered pack members, the only fate they deserve is death. Deucalion will be the first, the others will either disappear or end up in pieces. There is nothing more to discuss. Tomorrow night, he dies with or without you. You can think this is just because Derek feels like he has no other way out of this but it's not." I explained watching his face fall into a whirlwind of confusion and terror.

"Maggie, it doesn't have to be like this." He shook his head but I just pursed my lips.

"You're right, it doesn't. But it will be because I want him dead, Scott. Even if I have to tear his heart out with my bare hands." I gritted my teeth and took notice of the disgusted look he held. It was like he was finally seeing the person I had become over the summer. Derek broke through the silence that had filled the loft as Scott tried to wrap his head around just how far from grace I'd fallen and I tuned most of what he was saying out until Scott said he would be there tomorrow and gave me one last desperate glance before walking out of the loft. We all stood around awkwardly waiting for the sound of Scott's bike to take off from the lot.

"You know he's going to try and reach out to him right? His conscience is not built for this." Peter broke through the silence.

"He's right. Scott will do whatever he can to save someone." Derek agreed.

"Why would he bother trying to save Deucalion after what he knows about him?" Cora questioned absurdly.

"He's not trying to save Deucalion. He's trying to save me." I looked over at her and her face seemed to soften.

"I know how to track Scott. I'll find out when he reaches out and text you. Be ready to roll out whenever." I turned on my heel to leave.

"You do that. Just make sure to keep Isaac out of it. We don't need him getting involved." Derek's words stopped me at the door. It's like he was trying to get under my skin.

"I'll be sure to find a small box to lock him in if he starts to suspect anything. Sound good fearless leader?" I turned around slowly to see him standing with his arms crossed firmly against his chest, a stubborn scowl painted on his face.

"You do whatever you have to do, Maggie." He's position was unapologetic but at this point, I didn't care for one anyway. It didn't really matter if he was sorry he did what he did or not. We had a mission tomorrow and nothing came before that, not even hurt feelings.

I didn't bother saying any goodbyes. I would see them all soon enough and I was already stressed out to the max knowing the Scott was now officially apart of this. I also couldn't shake the look he gave me. I knew it was hard for him to accept me having these kinds of feelings but that's not his fault. Scott had a pure, untainted heart. He always has. That's why I loved him so much but that wasn't me. I lost that naivety when I was a kid. Now I wanted blood spilled to be answered with the blood of the guilty.

I changed my clothes once I got back home and started to pack things up for tomorrow night before distracting myself with the virgin sacrifices. I figured if something happened to me that it would be best to hand off all the information I'd put together for Deaton to keep the town safe. The scariest part of all of this was that I knew the risk of me not making it back tomorrow night was a very real possibility but I just didn't care anymore. I wanted this to be over. I wanted the alpha pack dead, I wanted all the people I cared about to be out of harm's way and I was willing to risk my life to make that happen.

I felt the breeze from the window and shook my head knowing I had a visitor.

"Really? I attended the meeting, what more do you want from me?" I didn't even look up from the books I was reading.

"Is that really how you're going to leave things with Derek?" Cora asked annoyed.

"You know for someone who has disliked me from the moment we met, you certainly care an awful lot about my relationship with Derek." At first, the only thing I could smell on Cora was suspicion and anger but the more time we spent around each other, her scent changed. She was more jealous and resentful whenever Derek and I were around one another. I thought for sure she'd be happy that I wanted space from him.

"You shouldn't have left like that. You two need to get over yourselves and work it out before we go after Deucalion tomorrow. It's not going to help any of us if you both have your heads in different places." Cora talked as though we were playing in a lacrosse championship or something.

"You really want to do family mediation right now? Come on Cora." I finally looked up at her and she looked as though she was so frustrated, she considered stomping her foot. Instead she walked over to my bed.

"So what are you planning on doing? Sitting up here and sulking? You've clearly already spent way too much time with Derek it would seem." She picked up one of the books like Stiles had done earlier and tossed it on the bed.

"Actually I'm reading up on human sacrifice. I'm pretty sure I've pegged the thing killing random people around Beacon Hills but I want to be sure." I explained knowing she didn't really care about the people of Beacon Hills. Cora and I shared a few similarities but her cause was her own. She wasn't as invested in innocent people that were affected by the brunt of our supernatural bullshit.

"I'm talking about with Derek. He needs you if he plans on taking the alpha pack down. Derek's a terrible fighter and if you're the tiny version of the Scarlet Witch then we need you with us." I had signed up for the fight but that didn't mean I was going to suddenly be less pissed about Derek doing what he did.

"A lot of people need me, Cora. Derek is the only one who seems to be actively trying to get rid of me. Besides I've got other things that require attention." I was starting to lose my patience with Cora but it would appear she was losing hers faster.

"I can't concentrate with your uncle creeping around outside the door." She gestured to the door irritably. I had heard Nathan come in the house and assumed he was merely checking up on me but he did have a tendency to linger whenever I had company.

"Nathan, you might as well come in." Nathan must have been considering fleeing because it took him a few extra seconds before he opened the door. He gave me an embarrassed smile before tossing a questionable look over at Cora.

"First of all, this is my house. I don't need to creep. Second, when a visitor uses the window instead of the door, I'm allowed to be suspicious. Who are you exactly?" I chuckled at Nathan explaining himself.

"I'm family." I looked over at Cora who seemed to be staring at me earnestly. It was the first time she'd ever really acknowledged that we were family and I could tell she was genuine when she said it.

"I'm Cora Hale, Derek's not so dead little sister." Cora put her hand out and Nathan shook it.

"Another Hale? I feel like I should have guessed that. You all sort of carry that disdained look around on your faces." Nathan waved his hand in a circle around his own face.

"It's about time she had some female backup in this family." Cora smiled softly.

"Yeah it is. I've actually got to get going but please consider talking to him before tomorrow night. You don't want anything to get left unsaid because you were mad." I couldn't understand the complete turnaround Cora had towards me all of the sudden until I remembered how quickly her family was taken from her. We both had a lot of things we wished we said to our families and never got the chance. As angry as I was at Derek, I needed to at least talk to him before we went to handle Deucalion but first I had to bring Nathan out of the dark.

"You okay Kid?" Nathan nudged my shoulder and I looked up at him.

"That's the same face you made when you told me that I needed to let you disappear for the summer. I'm not going to like what you say next am I?" Nathan shifted his body trying to prepare himself for whatever it is I was about to say. I pulled the desk chair out and gestured for him to sit down in it. I sat on the bed across from him trying to figure out where to even start.

"There's a lot that I haven't told you that you deserve to know and I'm going to try and do that now before it's too late." I said simply making Nathan even more anxious.

"If I make it back tomorrow, I'm not sure who or what I'll be and I just want you to know that it's not your fault. I was born from darkness and there's no real way of getting rid of it." I looked down at my hands and clasped them together so he wouldn't see that they were shaking. Knowing that I would have to share so many skeletons with Nathan made my whole body want to crumble into pieces but I had to be strong. I had to show him that I wasn't afraid of what I was becoming, what I already was.

**[Stiles POV]**

I had been waiting all night for Scott to call but he didn't call until the next morning. I wanted to ring his neck for waiting so long but he sounded off like something was really upsetting him. He didn't tell me much just that I needed to get to the clinic as soon as possible. I had wanted to tell him about what happened with Maggie but I could tell he'd already had a lot going on the moment I saw his face.

"What do you mean they're going after them tonight? Did Maggie come up with some super awesome kryptonite Wolfsbane that makes them leaving willingly or something?" I questioned unsure of what had changed in the 16 hours I'd last seen Maggie that she failed to mention. I knew I promised to stay out of the alpha pack stuff in exchange for the inside knowledge on the Darach but these guys were no joke.

"No she said they're going to kill Deucalion." Scott looked upset.

"Derek wants to kill the leader? That's not a surprise." I rolled my eyes but Scott shook his head.

"No Maggie said she wants to kill him. I tried to offer an alternative but she said…" Scott stopped himself and I looked over at Deaton as he held a frown.

"She said she would tear his heart out with her bare hands if she had to." Scott had his hands gripping either side of the metal table like he needed it to steady him.

"She was clearly kidding Scott. It had to be a metaphor or some euphemism." I laughed it off but his eyes told me a different story. Scott always had this look that he gave me when he didn't want me to worry but it always gave him away. He gave me the same look when they wanted to pull the plug on Maggie.

"What are their odds? If they go up against Deucalion, can they beat him?" I looked directly at Deaton this time who shook his head with pinned eyebrows.

"It's not that simple. No matter what their plan is to go directly after Deucalion, the others won't be that far." He explained.

"Okay will throw some situations at me here. I mean Maggie is supposed to be all powerful right?" I knew there was a lot about Maggie's abilities that I didn't know about yet but scaring off this pack should have been easier than this. Somehow looking at Scott, I'm so much more unnerved now than I was before.

"They're all worst case scenarios Stiles. There is no positive outcome here. The alphas could slaughter Maggie's pack in front of her and she's left with that guilt or she could use her abilities killing not only the alphas but everyone she cares about in the process. Maggie's ten times stronger than she was before the summer started. So much so that she has the ability to kill the entire town if she really lost her center." Deaton made it sound like Maggie was a bomb waiting to be set off at the wrong time destroying everything in her path. I'm not sure I could ever see her as that.

"So what do we do? How do we stop this from happening?" I leaned on the table mimicking Scott's stance.

"Scott's reached out to Deucalion-" I threw my hands up.

"What? I'm sorry you reached out to the head honcho of alphas? To do what exactly?" I narrowed my gaze at Scott.

"He's agreed to meet me alone at the bank to talk about a potential for peace." Scott enlightened me to his idiotic plan.

"Wow that's like the worst idea ever. What on earth would make you think he won't just kill you for being so naive?" I asked kinda pissed Deaton actually thought this was a good plan.

"He's had plenty of chances to kill me already. He hasn't. That's got to mean something." Scott pressed as if that was some sort of sign of safety.

"Come on Scott. This can't be our only plan." I ran my hands down my face in frustration.

"We don't have time." Scott looked desperate and that's what scared me most of all.

"Fine, what do you need me to do? I can do the mountain ash trick again if you think that'll help." I offered but Deaton finally stepped up.

"No you're needed elsewhere. We need you to reach out to Maggie." Deaton gestured to me and I chuckled..

"She won't listen to me. I've tried to get through to her-" Deaton cut me off.

"Her center is knowing that the people she loves are safe. That's why she pushes you all so far away. You need to remind her that you aren't going anywhere. You need to remind her that before she was the Nyvolore, before she was a witch or a werewolf, she was a human with a human heart." Deaton put his hand on my shoulder giving it a reassuring squeeze but honestly he was becoming pretty shit at advice given these days. At least in my opinion he was. Scott seemed to consider his advice as some sort of comforting weight but nothing he ever told me worked out. The mountain ash was a fluke and trying to reach out to Maggie would require more than that.

I gave Scott a hug before I left the clinic. He'd come back. He had to. I couldn't handle this shit without him and he knew it. I'd kill him if he didn't come back. As stupid as it sounded, I was more nervous about talking to Maggie than I was about Scott not making out back from his meeting with the Alpha Dick. Our last encounter was strained. It didn't help that Cora came in and made things awkward but it wasn't her fault. I'd put myself in that situation with Maggie when I let her push my buttons. I knew what she was trying to do and I gave into the game she was playing. I told myself that I wouldn't do that this time.

I parked the jeep and took a deep breath as I stormed into the house. I wasn't going to let her run the conversation this time. I wouldn't let her push me around. She was going to listen to me or I was going to make her listen to me. When I burst through the door, she was tying her boots. She didn't seemed surprised or phased by me barging in. The whole way up here, I knew I was going to give her a piece of my mind. Like really let her have it. Tell her all the things I wanted to tell her that night at Heather's, all the things I'd been saving up this summer but when I saw her sitting there with her knee to her chest, slowly lacing her boots with one bare foot dangling just above the floor, I'd lost my determination.

"Hey." I managed feeling like an idiot.

"Hi." She replied simply.

"G-going somewhere?" I rolled my eyes and put my hands on my hips silently wanting to punch myself in the face for being about as smooth as the gravel driveway I'd just driven up on.

"I'm going to make a wild assumption when I say you already know the answer to that question." She finished one boot and started to pull on her sock for the bare foot. I almost got distracted by how little her feet were but shook the stupid distraction away.

"Look, I know what you're about to do and honestly I get it. After what they did to Erica, after what they did to you…but you have to know something before you do this." I swallowed the lump in my throat and she looked up at me intently.

"You aren't the monster you think you are. We all do bad things Maggie. Sometimes we fall into darkness but that doesn't mean we should let it engulf us." I moved towards her as she held my gaze. She didn't look angry or like she wanted to tell me how stupid I was. She looked sad.

"You killed that alpha to survive. You want to kill Deucalion because he took a piece of your family away but you aren't going out and murdering children or kicking handicap people. Whoever you think you've become, you're wrong. Bloodlust and vengeance are two different things. That's not who you are." I said tilting my head to the side.

"How do you know that? How can you be so sure?" Maggie questioned and I kind of lost it.

"Because I know you, okay?!" I threw my arms out wide and she blinked like my outburst startled her.

"I know you like caramel and vanilla ice cream, I know you like the smell of ocean breeze candles because it reminds you of being at the beach, I know you like to listen to Bob Dylan because it reminds you of my dad trying to serenade our mom's at Saturday evening BBQ's." Maggie smiled sadly at the memories but it faded as I took a breath and a step closer to her.

"I know that you not only sleep clutching a pillow but you put one behind you because as much as you hate to admit it, you like to feel like someone is with you so you can sleep better. I know you're self-conscious about your short legs even though they're super cute and I know that you didn't come back to Beacon Hills because it's home. It was because we're home. Scott and me. We're you're home." My voice broke as she chewed on her bottom lip.

"Dammit Maggie, I know you better than you know yourself. I believe in you. I've always believed in you. I believe that you're still the same person you were before all this shit happened." I gestured my hands in the air and she shook her head.

"How could you honestly still believe that?" She looked down at her feet and crossed her arms over her chest protectively.

"Because you came back to me. No matter what's happened, no matter how bad it's gotten, you always come back to me. Always." I took the last step towards Maggie and now she was only about a foot from me. I watched her body tense slightly as I stepped into her guarded space.

"I'm standing here screaming my freaking lungs out with my arms flailing trying to get you to see that you aren't lost. You just need to follow the light back home, back to me. Don't let the fear of what you've done keep you from coming home to me. Please." I pleaded with her. She took a moment to look at me and lifted her hand like she wanted to touch my face but stopped herself to turn back to her bag that was lying open on her bed. I saw the daggers sticking out of it and I felt the pit of my stomach churning. She must have seen what had distracted me and pulled one of them out to show me.

"The scars on my back, they came from this blade. Ironically enough, Gerard gave me the idea when he tortured me in the basement of Allison's old house. I figured all I would need to do to get Erica and Boyd back would be to stab whoever was guarding them and the Wolfsbane would be so fast acting that it would give us enough time to get away. Plan went to shit when they got Isaac though. I panicked, woke up chained to the ceiling." Maggie rubbed at the back of her neck nervously.

"Deucalion doesn't want me dead. He wants me to be his weapon and I won't do that. I won't ever be that, not for him. He tortured my pack, punished me for thinking being cocky and used my own weapons against me. I actually had to cut the skin from my back, just so the scars would go away. It doesn't matter though. I'll always know that they were there." Maggie started to zone out for a moment before putting the dagger back into the bag.

"You said that we all can fall into darkness but I was born with mine. No amount of light or anchor can change that, Stiles." She threw her bag over her shoulder and I felt like I was out of time. I stepped into her space one final time, far enough to where I was actually looking down at her and she didn't tense. She let me stand right there with her.

"Promise me you'll come back from this in one piece. Lie to me if you have to." I begged desperately. This time she didn't hesitate when she brought her hand up. She placed it on my chest, right over my heart and I wasn't in the least bit embarrassed that she could probably feel it beating so hard.

"I'm not going to lie to you anymore Stiles. There's no point." She frowned before taking her hand away from my chest all too quickly and walking out of the door. I could hear her car pulling up the gravel driveway as I sat down on her bed and put my head in my hands. I didn't know how to help her. I didn't know if I could save her this time and just admitting that to myself scared the hell out of me. I don't know how long I sat on Maggie's bed before Nathan shuffled up the stairs and leaned against the door frame.

"You didn't go with her?" He asked looking disappointed.

"No she wouldn't let me if I tried. I was sent to distract her, remind her of her humanity or something and I pretty much failed at that too." I rested my chin on my clasped hands and Nathan shook his head.

"We are her humanity. That's why she keeps us so far away." Nathan looked wrecked. He kept himself rooted in the doorway almost like he was afraid to come all the way into the room because he might break down or something. He had a drink in his hand and I couldn't help but be reminded of my dad. He always drank whenever things got rough at home or whenever he worried about me or work. I never really looked at how Nathan and my dad were kind of in the same boat. I can't imagine how hard it must be to raise a kid by yourself. It seemed like Beacon Hills was full of single parent's these days except Nathan and Melissa knew about everything supernatural and my dad didn't. Seeing the way Melissa and Nathan dealt with knowing that there wasn't anything they could actually do to protect these kids almost seemed more painful then watching my dad think he was a failure at his job.

"I can go if you want." I offered but he shrugged.

"I don't mind. Stay as long as you want." Nathan took another drink and hissed from the bite of what I assumed was whiskey.

"You know, I came up here every night that I stayed in the house like she might be here. Like somehow she'd just give come back and give up the fight. She's just a kid man. You're all just kids." Nathan said bitterly. I didn't know what to say to him. There was nothing I could possibly think of to ease his mind that was even remotely truthful.

"She'll come back. She always does." It was more of a hope than a reassurance and he looked at me like it wasn't good enough.

"She's already broken. Every time she leaves and comes back she loses pieces of herself. Sooner or later, there won't be anything left even if she does come back." Nathan took his glass and left. I heard his boots stumble down the stairs crushed by the entire situation. I actually felt bad for Nathan. He had some idea what he signed up for but there's no way he could have predicted just how far gone Maggie would be. None of us could have seen this coming. I stayed sitting on Maggie's bed, unsure of what to do or where to go. All I could is wait.

**[Scott's POV]**

_"I don't know what else to do. Do I keeping trying to get them to listen to me even after what happened? Do I tell Derek he's going to get them all killed? How can I possibly convince Maggie that blood for blood doesn't make the pain go away? How do you save someone who doesn't want to be saved? How do I stop them?" I had a million questions for Deaton and no time to actually get answers for all of them._

_"Don't stop them." I looked up at Deaton from the table and he smiled despite the situation._

_"Lead them." I never really knew how an answer could be simple and complex at the same time but that's what it was._

I rolled the syringe around in my hand remembering what Deaton had said. Standing in my room now, I felt nervous. I was out of time. I pulled on my jacket and felt the weight of the syringe in my pocket. Deaton was worried that Maggie might get out of hand and whatever was in this syringe would shut her down instantaneously. Just the fact that Deaton had to give me something that would knock Maggie out scared me. I knew she was powerful but I didn't think it required _this_ kind of controlling. I snatched the helmet off my bed and nearly jumped out of my skin when I saw Isaac standing in my doorway with a grin of satisfaction on his face. He seemed pretty proud that he was able to sneak up on a werewolf.

"Where ya going?" He asked innocently.

"Uh I...I was going to go and get some food to eat." I lied carefully.

"Cool, I'll come with you." Isaac shrugged.

"Nah dude it's okay. I can eat alone." I tried to be as nonchalant as possible but he seemed pretty persistent.

"Well what are you getting?" He pressed.

"Uh...Mexican?" It came out like a question and it was then I realized that Allison had been right. I really do suck at lying.

"Dude, I love Mexican." Isaac turned like he was about to lead the way but I knew I had to stop him.

"Isaac." I stopped him making sure he saw how serious I was.

"I can eat alone." He chuckled and shook his head.

"You're not going alone. Come on." He nodded his head out the door. He knew I was BSing the whole time. He was trying to humor me apparently.

"How did you-"

"You aren't hard to read Scott. You're honest, you're protective, and you always try to do the right thing. It doesn't take a genius to know what you're up to but I've got your back." I handed Isaac the extra helmet I had and took a deep breath. Deucalion assured me that this meeting would be a peaceful one but I figured I could flee if all else fails. By the time we go to the bank, I had calmed myself.

"We're just going to talk to him, try and reason with him. That's it." I looked back at Isaac who looked around the bank. I had forgotten that he had been here a few times with all bad memories.

"Are you alright?" I checked but he stuck his lip out.

"Yeah it's just that I'm actually kind of hungry now." Isaac put the helmet on the back of the bike and I chuckled.

"Yeah so am I. Peace talks first, tacos after." I patted him on the back and started to follow the strong and steady heartbeat I recognized as Deucalion. He stood in the middle of an escalator, cane in front of him, unmoved.

"You didn't come alone." He said smoothly but I didn't take my eyes off of him.

"Yeah this is Isaac." I knew he knew who Isaac was. I just thought maybe I could pull a little humanity out of him if he knew his name.

"I'm not talking about Isaac." He tone wasn't eager. I heard feet shuffling and looked towards it to see Derek fully wolfed out with both Boyd and Cora standing behind him equally ready to tear Deucalion to shreds.

"You knew I would do this! Derek don't. Please don't do this. We can do this in a way that no one gets hurt. If someone else dies, Maggie will never forgive her-" My pleas were interrupted.

"Him. Just him." Derek pointed at Deucalion.

"Just me? Now how's a blind man find his way into a place like this all on his own?" Like a distress signal had gone up, all four of his fellow alphas emerged surrounding us on almost every angle. We weren't exactly outnumbered but seeing as how three of them were alphas and one was a mega alpha, I didn't see any of this going in a good direction.

"You know, we'd hoped you'd come alone but we weren't counting on it." Maggie wasn't wolfed out but she had daggers strapped to the belt of her jeans and she held her shoulders back unafraid.

"Maggie please. There's another way." I tried one final time but her eyes never left Deucalion.

"I don't need you to save my soul, Scott. It's too late for all that. The only difference from the broken mess I was before is that now I'm not weak. I'm pissed off and that is a very, very dangerous thing." Her eyes flashed emerald and Kali chuckled.

"I've seen trolls more terrifying than you." She snarled and Maggie raised her hand slowly, directing it with her palm out and towards Ennis. She flicked her wrist abruptly and Ennis head snapped to the side violently sending him to the ground. Kali growled from across the room, eyes flashing red with anger.

"Next time I'll tear his head from his god damn shoulders and throw it to you." Maggie remained utterly still switching her gaze from Deucalion to Kali without flinching. How she could snap someone's neck like that and remain so unaffected terrified me more than any alpha in the room.

That was enough to set the battle into motion as Kali sprinted towards Maggie with a guttural growl but was intercepted by Derek. The sound of Ennis neck snapping back into place made me jump backwards. Boyd and Cora went for him while he tried to get to his feet but it appeared that having his neck snapped only made him more vicious as he tossed them around like rag dolls. The twins had morphed into their super wolf and grabbed Maggie by her shoulders hoisting her up into the air. Isaac took off out of instinct to help her but by the time he reached her, they tossed her into Isaac making them both hit the ground hard. There was no way out of this. I was in this fight whether I liked it or not.

I'd managed to get in touch with my wolf over the summer. He wasn't hard to control anymore so bringing him forth was pretty easy. However being tossed into a concrete wall would never be a walk in the park. My back crumbled with the stone and I hissed. The bank was filled with growls, bones cracking under ferocious blows to the body and the sound of skin tear from claws. It felt like everything was moving so quickly and it was hard to focus on one thing at a time. Cora cried out and Maggie's head turned towards her before taking off. She tore the blades from her belt and started to dice into Ennis like it was nothing. The distraction cost me when the twins came at me and swatted my arm out of place causing me to howl out in pain. Werewolf healing didn't work quickly enough in situations like this. It took a few moments before the bone would snap back and heal but by then I was tossed to the ground once again adding to the pain.

Maggie had somehow gotten the upper hand on Ennis once more before flipping her dagger on its head and throwing it with impressive strength towards Deucalion only to have him swat it away with his cane aggressively. She tries to throw the second one as she darts towards him but he catches it and tosses it back hitting Maggie directly in her chest.

"NO!" I wailed trying to run towards her. I was gripped by the back of my neck as was Isaac and dragged across the floor. It was like everything froze and Ennis tossed Boyd to the ground in front of Boyd as Cora ran over to cradle Maggie when her knees buckled.

"Kill him and the others can go. You're beaten here Derek. She'll be in agony before long and she'll need assistance if she wants that to heal properly." Deucalion explained walking down a few more steps. Kali walked over and tore Cora away from Maggie letting her sit on her knees hunched over so she could put her foot against Cora's throat. Derek looked from Cora to Boyd and then to me like he wished he could get some assistance.

"Are we serious with this kid? Look at him! He's an alpha? To what? A bunch of worthless teenagers." Kali pressed her foot down, digger her claws into Cora's hands as she tried to push herself free.

"Some have more promise than others." Deucalion looked over at me and Derek followed his gaze towards me.

"Then let him rise to the occasion. What will it be Derek? Pack or family?" Kali pressed down and Cora yelped.

"That's where you're wrong." Maggie ripped the dagger from her chest and let it fall to the floor with a clink.

"Pack is family." She lifted her head and it was the first time I'd ever seen her face contorted like a wolf. A whistling sound surprised us all and a bright flash sent the twins falling backwards away from Isaac and I. One whistle after another exploded in the air and somehow Maggie managed to get Cora free of Kali's hold and onto her feet.

"Get Boyd out of here now!" She ordered pulling Boyd to his feet and handing him off to Cora. Ennis looked at me with rage when I jumped to my feet preparing for a fight once more. It was as though my challenging him was offensive to him and he took off towards me. I prepared my body for the collision, to be thrown back to the floor but when our bodies collided, it was him that fell backwards. I felt a surge of power run through my body unlike any I'd ever felt before leaving the sound of thunder rumbling in my head.

"That'a boy Scotty." Maggie's eyes were wide as I shook the feeling off. Derek run up behind Ennis and resumed the fight in my place. Kali blocked Maggie's path when she tried to finish what she started with Deucalion but Maggie was totally demolishing her. I'd never seen her in action before and watching her fight was like watching someone preform a choreographed dance. Kali blocked and Maggie would land a strike. She'd move left and Maggie would follow with a heavy right. She didn't use magic. She used brute force and the training she'd acquired to put Kali down. I was actually entranced until she let out a scream, staring at Derek in horror as his fight with Ennis took him to the edge of the platform. I scrambled to try and reach him in time but he'd already started falling. Maggie blitzed towards the edge following him over the side.

"MAGGIE!" I gripped her legs and kept her from falling. Isaac wrapped his arms around my waist and pulled me backwards so that Maggie was no longer dangling over the side.

"No…Derek…no!" She whimpered looking down at Derek's broken body as it lie motionless on a lower level escalator.

"Maggie…" I reached out to her watching her grip on the edge tighten until blood started to spill from her palms. She let out a deafening wail that made me fall back into Isaac as we both fumbled to cover our ears. The building actually started to shake around us, pillars cracking and threatening to bring the roof down at any moment. Kali grabbed Deucalion's arm and led him down the steps so they could escape quickly and that's when I remembered what I had. I yanked the syringe out of my pocket and stabbed Maggie in the neck with it cutting her cries of pain off immediately before we were all crushed. She whimpered falling back against my chest, Derek's name repeating on her trembling lips until her eyes grew too heavy, body going slack against my own. In the eerie silence of the run-down bank, a heavy realization set in as Isaac looked down over the edge at what had sent Maggie into a complete spiral.

Derek was dead and tomorrow Maggie would wake up and Derek would still be dead. All I did was prolong her agony.


	8. Ghost Town

**[Maggie's POV]**

The last thing in the world you want after someone you cared about dies is for people to try and take care of you. To me, the worst part about death is all the people who try and fix it or justify it for you. I don't want to hear about how much they loved me or how proud they were of me. I don't want to hear that bullshit about them being in a better place. I want to be left alone so I can fully feel the weight of the gaping hole that they left in my chest. I want to feel that pain, not put a band aid with sympathies all over it as if that will somehow replace them or fix it.

I sat on the floor of the loft clutching the stupid stuffed animal that Derek had given me, trying to focus on the sounds of everything around me. The creaks of the old building complex, the traffic outside, birds in the sky, anything. But I couldn't. I couldn't focus on anything but the silence that bounced off the barren walls. Since the moment I came out of it, it's like I was being hovered over. Everyone thought I was going to go into some explosive rage and I honestly should have. There was no body, no trace of Derek whatsoever yet everyone was so quick to try and convince me that he was gone. They don't know Derek like I know Derek. Derek is a fighter. We'd been through too much this summer for him to give up on me now.

The smell of dust collecting on the coffee table filled my nose and I chuckled bitterly to myself remembering the first time I'd ever even stepped into the loft after Derek bought the building.

_"There's three rooms but only one bathroom. When we find Erica and Boyd, we can see if they want to clean out one of the other apartments on another level." Derek looked around the empty loft as he emerged from the bathroom._

_"I don't understand why you want to be the only residence in this entire complex. I mean I know you're antisocial but this is a bit extreme." I teased opening the old fridge that sat in the corner of the kitchen, practically rusted shut._

_"We're hunting a pack of alphas. You honestly think having some random neighbors is a good idea?" Derek cocked his eyebrow as I ran my finger up the spiral railing at the bottom of the staircase._

_"I was thinking you'd get the upstairs room and I could put Isaac in the room over here. I'll just section off this area here and make it mine." I crossed my arms over my chest and smirked at Derek._

_"Really? Don't make it obvious that you're literally placing yourself right in the middle of us. What do you possibly think we're going to have time to do while searching for Erica and Boyd?" I questioned earning a stern look._

_"I was a teenager once. I'm not taking any chances." Derek turned away from me and started writing things down in a notebook he'd been carrying around with him since we boxed up what few possessions he had at the rail car. I watched him look around the room and jot things down but the more he wrote down, the more he pinned his eyebrows together like he always did when the grocery list started to pile up with Isaac's random requests._

_"What? What's that face? You look like you're eyebrows are going to stitch together so you can become a muppet." I gestured to Derek's face but he still seemed deep in thought about what he was writing._

" _I'm thinking about furniture. We can't use anything from the house so we'll have to get a few pieces. You'll need a nice desk to study on too." I couldn't help but laugh at him._

" _Derek Hale, Alpha werewolf and interior decorator?" I mocked making him finally look at me with a smile. Isaac had pointed out that very few people could drag a smile out of Derek but he never seemed to have a problem with it whenever I teased him._

" _Are you making fun of me right now? The girl who gave me so much crap about living in a railcar is now making fun of me for getting a place with an actual mailing address and wants to furnish it." Derek threw his arm out._

" _I'm not giving you crap. I just think it's hilarious. I mean are you going to like coach me in t-ball? Drop me off at my dance recital? Maybe be my den mom when girl scouts rolls around?" I mocked pulling an actual laugh out of him._

" _First off, I played tons of sports as a kid so I could totally coach you, second, don't drag your weird dance mom's obsession into this and third, you'd be a terrible girl scout. You are crap at taking orders and love cookies." Derek didn't have a problem keeping up with my snark these days. He gave just as good as he got._

" _Well that's rude…true but rude. I do love me some cookies. Do I have to call you Dad now or do you prefer Papa wolf?" I leaned against the table he was leaning on and he started to gather the book and loose papers on the table, shaking his head at my comment._

" _Keep it up smartass and you'll find yourself with Care Bear bedsheets and matching pajama set." I shoved Derek away from the table and he kicked his foot out making me jump to avoid his boot hitting my shin._

I frowned down at the now dirty Care Bear that Derek had given me for my birthday. Isaac had made a joke about him getting me the one Care Bear that wasn't actually a bear because it was a lion. Derek had explained that Brave Heart Lion was a Care Bear cousin which only made Isaac tease and question his Care Bear knowledge until Derek broke out the red eyes on him. My phone vibrated on the table again and I glanced it seeing Stiles name popping up for the 8th time. I'd left him back at the house once he dozed off. I knew I was letting myself get too close to him in a weak state but it felt good to have him holding onto me when I felt like I was all over the place. I was startled when the heavy door of the loft pulled open.

"I figured you'd be here." Peter frowned shutting the door behind himself before walking carefully over to where I was sitting on the floor. He looked at the stuffed animal in my hands and let out a heavy sigh.

"Sitting up here crying isn't going to change the fact that their still going to come after you. Derek wouldn't want-" I cut him off abruptly.

"You have no idea what Derek would want for me. You couldn't possibly." I shook my head glaring.

"I know what _I_ want for you and that's not to get yourself torn to shreds. You've got to snap out of this Maggie. I told you before when Kate killed Karen, you've got to use that anger or they win." Peter pressed making me chuckle.

"You told me that bullshit right before you tried to kill me so maybe you should keep your sad ass pep talks to yourself." I pulled away from him and got to my feet.

"How many times do we have to go through that? I wasn't trying to kill you, I was trying to help you ascend...to evolve into what you were meant to be. If I remember correctly, you and Derek succeeded in killing me shortly after so who should really be upset here?" He pointed out. I leaned against the metal table and tried not to glance back at Derek's empty bed.

"You think the Alpha Pack is the worst thing that's ever rolled into Beacon Hills? Maggie, you have people here that you care about. This is your home. If you plan on keeping it and them safe, you'll have to teach people that taking the things you care about away has consequences." Peter gritted out leaning on the opposite side of the table. I didn't respond to him. I kept my eyes on the tracking spell I had laid out on the table waiting for any kind of change in the pendant but it still hadn't changed.

"Have you found him yet?" Peter asked softly, changing his tune drastically.

"Not yet but I'm not giving up. There was no body, that's got to mean something. I refuse to just give up on him. He's never given up on me. He deserves that much in return." I said fiercely gripping the edge of the table.

"Maybe instead of using your mother's gifts, you should be trying to use your old man's. Just because your magic is at your fingertips doesn't mean the wolf inside of you is useless. You want to find Derek, dead or alive, use your senses instead of sitting here waiting for sand on a pendant to shift." Peter pushed away from the table and walked towards the door. I kept my eyes on the pendant for a few moments longer before going back over to Derek's bed and plopping down in it. The loft felt so empty without him in it but I knew in my heart that he was still out there.

Stiles fast heartbeat was slowly rising in the elevator shaft but I didn't move. I just wiped my hands over my face and prepared myself for him to barge in. He yanked the door open breathless and let out a relieved sigh.

"A guy can't take a nap around you without waking up alone it would seem." Stiles joked shutting the door and looking around the loft.

"Most guys aren't as good at deducing a person's actions. You should consider yourself lucky." I kept my eyes on the dark ceiling.

"I like to think I'm an under appreciated talent." Stiles walked to the edge of the bed, glancing over at the table.

"Still nothing?" He asked almost sounding hopeful. I sat up on the bed and ran my hands through my hair.

"Nothing. Unless you count my father dropping by encouraging me to buck up and use my anger for more productive ventures but other than that nothing." I rubbed the back of my neck and felt the tension that rested there making it impossible to get comfortable.

"Peter Hale: a consistent wealth of bad advice." Stiles joked.

"Aren't you supposed to be on some field trip?" I asked dodging any strained conversation about Peter. I just wasn't in the mood to deal with that right now.

"The bus leaves in about an hour. I'm waiting for Scott to call me for a ride." Stiles tone saddened. It had basically took me being super insensitive to get him to agree to leave me for the track meet. My eyes caught sight of papers sticking out of Stiles pocket and I gestured towards them.

"That better not be a forged permission slip because I already told you that I wasn't going. I don't need a grief sitter. I'm fi-" Stiles look made me stop. We'd agreed that we wouldn't use the word fine anymore when we so clearly weren't fine.

"I'm here." I corrected myself. Stiles shook his head and pulled the papers out to hand to me. I looked at them and him before rolling my eyes and taking them from him.

"What am I looking at Stiles?" I asked not really wanting to read over the handful of documents.

"When you resurfaced and Nathan wouldn't tell us where you'd been, I did some digging around. Apparently there was a written agreement between Nathan and Derek as far as your guardianship was concerned." Stiles had piqued my interest and I started reading the first page discovering some brand new information.

"Derek has shared custody of me? But that would mean he'd have to have adopted me." I flipped the page over and saw an adoption document, signed and notarized.

There was a handwritten note in Derek's handwriting attached.

_I have no intentions of causing Nathan or Maggie any problems with this petition for shared custody. To be completely honest, Maggie is stronger than anyone I know. She doesn't need anyone to take care of her. I don't feel like Maggie is a responsibility or a cause. Maggie is my family. She is the only family I have left in this world and we've both been through similar tragedies. The only thing I absolutely want for Maggie is to know that she has family that truly loves her and is proud of her. My reasons for wanting shared custody are purely selfish because Maggie doesn't need me. I need her. She gives my life meaning. She is a reminder that no matter how much darkness has washed over our lives, you have the ability to keep going. She gives me that strength. I don't have much to offer Maggie. I have the security of a home, a heart full of love and a chest full of pride knowing that on some simple piece of paper filed away somewhere, it says that I am a partial guardian to the most strong willed, lionhearted girl I've ever had the pleasure of calling family._

I let my tears fall freely reading Derek's note. He never mentioned that he'd came to this formal agreement with Nathan. He let me have free reign and rarely pulled any sort of fatherly card on me but here it was in black and white. Derek was my legal guardian.

 _"_ I thought I knew you better than anyone on this planet but it turns out Derek knows you too. He knows how strong you are. He knows you will be okay, Maggie." I felt Stiles shift closer to me from behind and I shook the tears off my face.

"What does strength matter when I can't keep the people I love safe? What does any of it matter if I'm alone in the end?" He reached out to grab my arm and I let him, taking comfort in his touch.

"You said yourself that you don't think Derek is really dead and if you truly feel that then I believe you. Your feelings are never usually wrong Maggie which means we'll do everything we can to find him." Stiles rubbed his hand up and down my arm until I reached out to stop it. I held his hand against my arm, leaning into him to steady myself.

"And you have to know that you will never be alone Maggie. Do you hear me? I will never let that happen." Stiles took this moment to wrap his arms around me and pull me completely into his chest to hug me tightly. I held onto him and tried to calm the storm that was stirring in my chest. The buzzing of Stiles phone pulls me back to the reality that I was stuck in and he cursed under his breath.

"Yeah Scott, I'm on the way now." I could hear the exhaustion and sadness from Scott on the other end of the line but stepped back over to the table to try and avoid any awkwardness that might follow the embrace.

"Are you sure you don't just want to come with? I mean I know I'd feel better if you were with us." Stiles stepped up to the table as I leaned over it.

"I can't leave. Besides I already told Coach that I was on my heavy day and he yelled at me not to even think about getting on his bus with lady problems." Stiles snickered.

"What is the likelihood of you keeping in touch with me? I mean I'll have my phone and the tablet so Scott can study and yes I'm aware of how strange that sounds." I turned to look at Stiles and could feel his anxiety.

"Just go. Do me a favor and watch out for Boyd and Isaac. They need some time to get away from here while I deal with this." I rubbed my temples and Stiles licked his lips.

"Please be careful Maggie. I'm serious. Don't go after them alone. Don't go anywhere alone. Just stay here or go home." Stiles pleaded.

"She won't be alone." We both looked up as the door slid open and Cora stood there holding it open for Stiles. Stiles gave my shoulder a squeeze as he passed me and nodded at Cora before walking through the door, shutting it behind himself. Cora walked over to the bed and sat down letting out a heavy sigh. Cora had tried to remain close since I regained consciousness but the moment I expressed the feeling I had that Derek was still alive, she started to search for him.

"Any luck with that thing?" She asked as I kept my eyes on the pendant.

"No nothing. Any luck out there?" I asked hopeful but she didn't respond right away.

"Did Derek give you this?" I looked over my shoulder to see Cora clutching the stuffed lion.

"Yeah for my birthday. He was being a smartass-" Cora laughed. For the first time since we've met, she let out a genuine laugh and I could see glimpses of Derek in her smile.

"We used to be obsessed with these. We had little cousins that lived in the house with us growing up who literally went through a phase of everything Care Bear. All of us had our own and no matter how old we were, we got these things for every holiday. Derek was Champ Bear. I was Funshine Bear." I had to cock my eyebrow at Cora.

"Really? Funshine Bear?" Cora rolled her eyes at me.

"Shut up, they were children and I used to be super fun. You have no idea." I couldn't help but laugh at Cora defending her fun factor as a kid. I often wonder what my life would have been like if I grew up in the Hale house. All I can imagine is how much more painful my life would be losing that many more people.

"I can't even imagine what your childhood was like. It sounds awesome though." I plopped down next to Cora on Derek's bed and she handed me the lion back.

"You would have fit in nicely. You are definitely a Hale." I looked over at her and she just held my gaze. I knew the pain she was in. Not knowing where Derek was, if he was alright, if he needed help, was killing me.

"I can't bring myself to go back to the bank alone. If he really is...I just can't go back there alone." Cora admitted looking away from me like she was ashamed. I reached over and put my hand no top of hers as it rested on her knee so she'd look up.

"Then we stick together. That's what Derek would want us to do." Cora flipped her hand over and gripped mine giving it a squeeze.

The drive over to the bank was eerily quiet. We could both smell the anxiety on one another but we didn't bother addressing it. Whether the Alpha pack might be lingering or all we'd find left of Derek was a dead body, neither of us wanted to talk about it. I made sure to grab a few weapons just in case but listening to the heartbeats from the outside, it was completely silent. The smell of blood hit me before I was ready and I had to take a minute at the door, grabbing onto a dusty wall for support. Cora put her hand on my back to steady me.

"It's okay. Take your time." She proceeded further in and I closed my eyes to try and focus on blocking the pain out. Whatever Deaton had given the boys to give me was much stronger than anything he's ever given me before. I was still trying to shake the after affects when I heard a heartbeat enter above Cora. Panic set in for only a moment until I realized who it was.

"It's just me, your uncle. Uncle Peter." I stayed by the door listening to them.

"Uncle Peter who killed sister Laura." Cora wasn't like Derek. She made her dislike for Peter very clear once she found out about Laura. No amount of history would change the fact that he killed someone she loved.

"Ah yes not my finest hour but I'm hardly the only dysfunctional one in this family. Did Derek mention he killed me too? Slashed my throat ear to ear." I could actually hear the smirk on Peter's face.

"After you tried to rip Maggie's heart out of her chest. Seems justified to me." Cora defending me was going to take some getting used to but I appreciated it.

"As wonderful as it is that you two have bonded, I wasn't trying to kill her. I was trying to save her." Peter sighed as I finally felt well enough to approach them.

"So what? I'm supposed to just trust you now?" Cora spat with venom.

"I was actually wondering if I can trust you." I reached the bottom of the escalator as Peter snapped back.

"You've known me for seventeen years." Cora argued.

"I knew you for eleven, leaving six years unaccounted for and I'm not particularly fond of things unaccounted." I reached the middle of the steps and sighed.

"Will you two stop it please? It's hard enough being back here but listening to you two bicker is actually giving me a headache." I rubbed my temples.

"What are you even doing here?" Something I learned about Cora in the short time she'd been around is that she rarely backed out of an argument.

"Same as you two apparently. Glad to see you've finally decided to try other methods." Peter smiled fondly at me.

"The only death I can smell lingering here is Erica. I can still feel Derek." My hand hesitated over the blood that stained the railing, terrified to touch it.

"Maggie." Cora started back down the steps but Peter stopped her. I took a deep breath and rested my hand on the dried blood. The pull of the latch was like a gut punch as I felt the pain Derek was in, the difficulty of taking a breath and feeling the bones in his body all trying to heal was agonizing but there he was. Rolling off of the railing and crawling slowly up the metal steps until he reached the top, inching his way along the floor to find his way out of the building.

"Maggie! What did you see?" I had fallen back into Cora's lap, her arms supporting me as Peter gripped my chin.

"What did you see?" He asked again.

"Derek...he's alive." I breathed with excitement and relief.

"Then where the hell is he?" Just like that, Peter made my joy turn to panic. Derek was alive enough to crawl out of here but how far could he have gone so fatally injured and where the hell would he have gone?

**[Stiles POV]**

Like the idiot that I am, I got on the bus for the cross country meet with a still recovering Scott, two very pissed off beta werewolves and only one murderous alpha which should provide a bit of comfort but it didn't. Seeing only Ethan reminded me that there were still three very powerful alphas back home where only Cora and Maggie were, both of which were not up for a fight right now. I couldn't help but worry think about how things were once everyone came back to the house after losing Derek.

_Scott didn't call. Nobody called. I got up the moment I heard tires pulling down the gravel driveway. Nathan had said he was going back to the bar but I watched him stumble onto the boat probably to pass out for the night. This whole situation was far to stressful for us humans but I felt my heart stutter when they all jumped out of the car, Maggie's limbs dangling from Isaac's arms as he carried her towards the house. I practically fell down the stairs to get to them to open the door and slamming it open._

_"What happened?! Is she okay?!" I asked as Isaac carried her to the living room to lay her down._

_"Scott?! What the hell happened?!" I raised my voice seeing him clutch his side with eyes glazed over._

_"She's alive. She's just knocked out. We had to drug her." Isaac explained pushing her hair off her face. Boyd had helped Cora into the house but she quickly pushed away from him to lean over Maggie._

_"Drug her? Why the hell would you have to drug her?" I was prepared to rip them a new one until Scott finally found his voice._

_"D-derek...he's dead." I turned around taking my eyes off of Maggie to look at just how beat up Scott was. He was clutching his side and staring at Maggie's unmoving body as Isaac grabbed a wet wash cloth and cleaned her up. I didn't need werewolf senses to smell the blood, sweat and dust they were all covered in. I gripped Scott's shoulder and he looked over at me. Something in his eyes seemed so broken and I couldn't even imagine what was going through his head right now. Isaac retrieved some a bag from upstairs and passed out shirts to both Scott and Boyd who left the room to change._

_"You should hold her." Cora blurted._

_"What?" She had a busted lip and a scuffed up cheek that seemed to be healing really slowly but I knew it would considering the source._

_"A familiar touch is something she needs. She's going to need comfort when she wakes up. You comfort her. Hold her." Cora wasn't asking me to hold Maggie. She was telling me to hold her. I didn't have a problem with it but it threw me to see Cora being friendly towards Maggie. I slid down on the couch and pulled Maggie across my lap, adjusting to the small weight on my legs. I fixed her arms so that she wouldn't wake up in any additional pain and pushed her hair off her face. That's when I noticed how strained her face was. Maggie wasn't resting peacefully. She had been knocked out by some sort of drug in the midst of a battle where she lost the one person who she'd grown the closest too. I continued to stroke her hair and let my fingers graze her face as Boyd, Isaac and Scott walked back in. Boyd tried to get Cora to go clean herself up but she just shook him off continuing to watch me stroke Maggie's face. Isaac and Boyd gave a quick recount of what went down, leaving out the part about Derek as Cora continued to pace the floor nervously. The longer the silence went on and the more unmoved Maggie stayed, the more anxious they all got._

_"What was in that syringe? I mean Deaton has given her things to put her out before but never this long." Isaac pointed out. Cora drifted closer to the couch again double checking Maggie's body._

_"But she's going to wake up right? I can still hear her heartbeat, she's not dead. She has to wake up." She pressed._

_"She'll wake up." Scott hadn't said much. He just stared at her. Everyone just sort of stared at her, at us. I wanted to make sure he was alright. Find out what really happened but right now I knew I had to be here with Maggie._

_"And what are we supposed to tell her when she does wake up?" We'd been here for hours waiting for her to wake up but no one even thought to ask that question until now._

_"We tell her the truth. She deserves that much." I said firmly. We weren't going to lie about anything. I was tired of all the lies. Lies felt like a slow spreading disease. They eat away at you until it's all you know._

_"Derek was her constant. She shook an entire concrete building with rage. I'm not so sure we should be reminding her that he's d-" Scott elbowed Isaac cutting him off but Cora had already cringed being reminded of Derek. I never realized how much of a presence he had until he wasn't around. I couldn't imagine what that was going to be like for Maggie once she woke up._

_"It pains me to say it but Stiles is right. She deserves to know but who's going to tell her?" Boyd asked from the chair opposite the couch. I didn't even hesitate meeting his scrutiny._

_"I will. Maggie's always been able to shut me out when she's in pain but she has a hard time hating me. I suppose I'll just continue to test that until she does. You've all been through enough tonight, you should get some rest. I've got her." They all looked around at each other for a few moments before anyone made any moves. Boyd moved to Cora, putting his hand on her back as she clutched onto the couch._

_"Cora, I will take care of her. I promise." She looked away from Maggie and I could tell she was listening to my heartbeat. I'd never lie about taking care of Maggie. I would always do everything I could to protect her but it was fair for her to question that. She didn't know me. She didn't really know any of us outside of Derek. Cora needed to go home and deal with her own loss right now. She let Boyd wrap his arm around her and walk her out to the car._

_"Make sure he stays with her tonight. She shouldn't be alone." Scott shook his head slowly as Isaac knelt down next to me._

_"We should move her to her room. Nathan's going to come back in here and have a million questions if he sees her laid out here." Isaac whispered like somehow his voice might pull Maggie out of her deep sleep. I felt my legs going numb so I let him pick her up from my lap to carry her. Scott stayed downstairs and I clapped a hand over his shoulder._

_"Hey, you good?" I knew it was a stupid question but I had to ask. He shook his head, listening for the car to pull back up the driveway so Cora would be out of earshot._

_"She tried to save him and I stopped her. She dove over the edge after him and I stopped her from falling behind him. It's my fault. Derek's dead and it's my fault. She's going to hate me." I felt like a wave of Scott's anguish washed over me as I gripped his shoulder tighter._

_"Scott, you can't save everyone. All we can do now is get her through this okay? This isn't your fault. Come on man." I rubbed his back trying to get him to snap out of it but whatever he saw was just too much for him to handle right now._

I glanced over at Scott leaning his head against the window, eyes blinking slowly waiting for another stupid SAT vocab word. He had me rattling off words the first hour of the ride as if that was going to somehow take our minds off of everything else that was going on.

"I'm not getting anything from Maggie. I'm going to go ask Boyd and Isaac if they've heard anything from her." I pocketed my phone not even getting a nod from Scott as he rested his head against the window. I watched Coach talking to the driver and stayed low as I hurried to the seat next to Isaac and Boyd.

"Hey, have you guys heard anything from Maggie? She's not responding to my texts." I pulled my phone back out and held it up earning a side eye from Boyd.

"Maybe she doesn't want to talk to you?" Boyd gritted through his teeth glancing back at Ethan.

"She asked for us to give her some space so she's not keeping in touch with anyone." Isaac rolled his eyes like he was apologizing for Boyd's rudeness. I followed Boyd's eyes and bit my lip.

"Look, I know as much as you want to rip the guy's head off right now, you need to keep it together. Maggie can't lose anyone else right now and Scott is barely moving back there." They both looked back at Scott.

"What's wrong with him?" Isaac asked concerned.

"Honestly, I don't know. He's just not healing." I ran my hand through my hair in frustration and Boyd shook his head.

"So the one person we could really use right now isn't here." Boyd made a good point but there wasn't anything we could do now. We were already three hours outside of Beacon Hills and there was no way Maggie could get to us if Scott started to get worse. We were on our own.

**[Scott's POV]**

Stiles plopped down in the seat next to me startling me awake. For a moment I forget about the pain in my side and how guilty I felt. I felt like the shame was actually eating me alive.

"So Boyd and Isaac haven't heard from her either but Ethan is looking really restless which is sort of getting Boyd up in arms." Stiles explained making me look over at Ethan who kept checking his phone for some reason. Boyd glanced back and glared every few minutes.

"They won't do anything." I blinked the pain back slowly.

"And what if they do?" Stiles challenged curiously making me look over at him.

"Then I'll handle it. That's all I can do at this point." I explained watching him look me over.

"Well keeping them calm is only half our problem. Ethan is over there staring at his phone like he's waiting for something like a message or a signal which could mean a ton of really awful things for both us and Maggie. All I know is that it's something evil. You know I have a very perceptive eye for evil." Stiles pointed at me as I kept my eyes on Ethan. He was right. Ethan looked anxious and his shoulders were tense as he sat quietly next to Danny.

"I don't like him sitting next to Danny." I said trying to keep my eyes wide despite the pain willing me to close them.

"Me either. Let's find out what he's waiting on." I watched Stiles pull out his phone and type a message to Danny. I could hear the phone beep from the back of the bus and Danny looked back at Stiles who waved but he just shook his head at Stiles letting him know that he was in no way going to get involved with whatever he planned to do. I knew Danny liked Ethan and something about the way Ethan looked at Danny made me think he liked him too but I knew he couldn't be trusted. I couldn't take that chance. Not anymore. Not when Maggie had already lost someone else she loved right in front of her eyes. Stiles started to bombard Danny with message after message until he finally asked Ethan about who he was waiting on a message from. Ethan spun around in his seat and for some reason, Stiles and I duck out of sight like he'd suddenly be less suspicious of why Danny was asking. I winced feeling the torn flesh of my wound pull open further.

"That wasn't very subtle." Stiles remarked next to me, still sliding down further as I bent to hide my face. Stiles phone beeped a moment later with a message on it.

 **Text from Danny:**  
_Someone close to him is sick. Might not make it through the night._

"Ennis? Ennis is still alive?!" I breathed in shock.

"He is for now it would seem but if Ethan is worried he won't make it through the night then it's not good." Stiles let out a tense sigh.

"If he survived that fall then maybe Derek did too?" He added but I just leaned my head back against the seat thinking about Maggie and how much I would give up if I could bring Derek back to her.

_The sun had come up before Maggie had finally woken up. Stiles stayed with her the whole night, lying in bed next to her and making sure to keep the physical touch like Cora had asked him to do. Isaac had passed out on the couch downstairs to field any questions that Nathan had when and if he came in from the boat. I sat in a chair watching Stiles hold onto Maggie for the longest time before feeling like a total creep and walking out of the room and lying down in the guest room. It smelled faintly of Isaac and strangely enough Lydia. I didn't know the stories from this house yet. All I knew is that it was Maggie's home now._

_"Hey sorry I didn't call, I'm at Maggie's with Scott. She's having a rough night and Nathan said we could stay over." I heard Stiles on the phone snapping me out of my thoughts._

_"You think that's a good idea considering how things have been with you and Maggie lately?" The Sheriff was concerned about Stiles getting close with Maggie again. I don't really blame him. Those two had been so hit or miss the last year and after what happened with Stiles this summer, I'm worried too._

_"Dad it's fine. I'm not...it's okay. I'll be home later today. I love you." I walked into the room just as Stiles hung up his phone and rubbed his hand down his face._

_"He's right to worry. I didn't even think about what this might do to you." Stiles shook his head at me._

_"Where else would I be? I care about her...a lot. She knows it. There's no point and pretending we all don't know about it. It's not like I've never shamelessly pined for anyone before right?" He joked looking over his shoulder at her now turned on her side facing Stiles and clutching his hand._

_"I guess that's something you both have in common then." Stiles gave me a small smile before turning all his attention back to her. Maggie started to groan making us both jump and look at her. Isaac came running up the stairs and watched her turn to the side away from Stiles and rub at her head._

_"What the hell happened?" She croaked but Stiles reached for the water and put it in her hand so her throat wouldn't be so raw. She gulped the water down until she started to choke a bit and opened her eyes fully._

_"What are you all doing here?" She questioned confused._

_"Maggie, what do you remember?" Isaac stood by the door with his arms crossed over his body. She sat quietly for a few moments putting pieces of it together in her head before looking directly at me._

_"Derek...where's Derek?" She asked making me shake my head. She immediately started scrambling to get off her bed._

_"Maggie...Maggie he's gone. Derek's gone." She halted once she was on her feet and cut her eyes at me._

_"I have to see him. Where is he?" She demanded stomping towards me._

_"You can't. He's gone. He didn't make it out of the bank. I'm so sorry." Maggie shook her head violently._

_"Where is the body then? I want to see his body." She pressed making me look over at Stiles._

_"We don't have it. It's gone." She squinted at me._

_"So what you mean to say is you don't know if he's dead. You're just assuming that he's dead because you wouldn't let me save him and you don't even have a body for me to look at?" Maggie was pure venom as she spat her words at me._

_"Get out of my house." She collected herself and walked towards the door to her spell room in the attic._

_"Maggie-" She spun around._

_"GET OUT OF MY HOUSE!" She screamed making Isaac flinch backwards into the wall. Stiles was chewing on his lip as I stood feeling my heart in my throat wishing I could take Derek's place. She stormed up to the room, sealing it off so we couldn't follow her. Isaac said he would go and let Boyd and Cora know that she was awake. I could tell he wanted to be anywhere but here right now. Stiles refused to go anywhere which didn't surprise me. He was the only one that could actually follow her since he was a human so I went outside to the dock and looked out at the water. I couldn't feel anything coming from the house when they were in that room. I didn't know if she was crying or angry. I didn't know if she'd let Stiles comfort her or if he didn't get through to her. All I could do was stand out here, giving her the space she wanted and be alone with my thoughts and images of Derek falling to his death. A part of me felt like it died with Derek. I felt like there was still so many things we still needed to talk about and now I'd never get my chance. The only other person I know that was a werewolf, that had been around since I'd been bitten was Peter and I knew I couldn't trust him. Deaton had once told me that Derek was important to growing as a wolf and now I didn't know what I was going to do._

_I waited outside for hours until I felt both Maggie and Stiles emerge from the attic. I knew that Maggie would know if I was listening in so I just listened to heartbeats. Stiles had texted me letting me know that he was okay and that I should go home and get some sleep. I trusted that he would be okay but I was still unsure about leaving Maggie. The message that followed was basically Stiles telling me that Maggie needed space from me which only confirmed what I already knew. Maggie blamed me. I knew she would. I blamed myself._

_I went home and peeled the shirt Isaac had loaned me off only to be face with the still bleeding wound on my side left by Ennis. Every time I touched it, I had vivid flashbacks of Derek's fall and Maggie's wailing. I couldn't sleep at all that night. Stiles had texted me that Boyd and Isaac had been by but Maggie made them leave too. He kept me posted on how she was doing until I finally worked up the courage to return the next night. I listened for heartbeats in the house and found only two. Stiles seemed calm and Maggie's was only slightly elevated. When his finally slowed to the point of concern, I knew he must have fallen asleep._

_I walked up the stairs slowly to find Maggie moving around her room carefully, a pendent and some sand sitting on her desk._

_"Hey..." Maggie had showered and cleaned herself up. Stiles slept softly snoring on the bed as she moved about, ignoring me._

_"Have you come to collect him? He needs rest if he's going on that track meet thing." Maggie kept her back to me. I had gotten the same email about the cross country meet but I had zero plans of actually attending it._

_"We aren't going on that." I said carefully._

_"Why not?" She questioned right back._

_"Because..." I didn't have the right words to say without pissing Maggie off. I knew telling her that we'd never leave her side again would only make things worse but she must have sensed my hesitation because she finally stopped what she was doing to look at me._

_"You should go. I already told Isaac and Boyd to go too. There's nothing for you guys to do around here so you should just go. Lay low." She shrugged like it wasn't a big deal._

_"Maggie, it's just a track meet. It's not important. You are." I stepped closer to her but she snapped her gaze up to me._

_"I don't need you here to watch out for me or to take care of me. I'll be fine. I'm always fine." She went back to rummaging through her books and I let out a pained sigh. The pain from my wound was radiating through my entire body but I kept it together in front of Maggie._

_"Listen, I know you're hurting and I just want to make sure you know you aren't alone. We are here for you. I am here for you." I wanted to reach out and touch her but I knew that wasn't an option._

_"You think you being here somehow fills the void Derek's left me with? It doesn't. What do you want me to do Scott? Sit here, mourn and cry on your shoulder?" She waves of bitterness wafted off of her making the air almost too thick to swallow. It made my guilt multiple._

_"That's not what I meant. Maggie please. Don't push me away. I need you just as much as you need me." I hated to make this about myself because I knew she was in pain but it was the truth. I needed Maggie. I've always needed Maggie. Knowing that right now, she wanted nothing to do with me was killing me._

_"I watched Derek fall over a ledge and before I could see if he was okay, you knocked me out. When I woke up, I was expected to accept a death without an actual body to look at so I don't need support. I need you to leave. You've done enough already, please just go." Maggie wiped the falling tears from her eyes before they could hit the floor and her words broke me. You've done enough already. It repeated in my head and I reached for my side as if the pain had traveled from my heart to my side instantaneously. I swallowed the lump in my throat and backed my way to the door ready to leave her alone like she'd asked. I gripped the handle unwilling to give up but I could tell I was only causing her further pain just by standing here._

_"I'm sorry I couldn't save him. I'm sorry I couldn't save him for you." I said it loud enough for her to hear me but when she didn't move or respond, I knew that was answer enough._

"Scott...SCOTT!" Stiles shouted making me wince as I sat up quickly. I felt the blood seeping through my shirt now and Stiles noticed too.

"Scott, you aren't getting any better. This is so beyond what happened with the alphas, okay? We need to get a hold of someone to get you some real help. We need to send Maggie a 9-1-1 or something." Stiles pulled his phone out and I put my hand over it quickly to stop him.

"No...no don't. The last thing Maggie needs right now is to worry about me. Just let her grieve man." I batted his phone back into his lap.

"You could be dying Scott! This isn't something we can screw around with." Stiles was freaking out but Coach's screaming caught my attention.

"Now the rest of you, don't think we're gonna miss this meet because of a slight traffic jam, a minor tornado warning, Jared. We're gonna make this thing. Nothing is gonna stop us! Stilinski, put your hand down." Coach looked back at the both of us and I leaned my head back against the seat.

"You know, there's, like, a food exit about a half a mile up. I don't know if we stop and then maybe.." Stiles tried to get Coach to listen but he was very high strung and determined today.

"We're not gonna stop." He said simply.

"Okay, but if we stop..." Coach cut him off unwilling to even hear him out.

"Stilinski! Shut it! Seriously! It's a little bus! Stop asking me questions!" He shouted grabbing at his whistle, ready to drive Stiles up the wall again but Stiles just crumpled back into the seat and covered his mouth.

"I hate him. I hate him so much." He bit his lip hard enough to stop himself from shouting anything that would surely get him a week's worth of detention when we got back before looking back over at me.

"Maybe you should try to call Deaton." He suggested.

"I tried. I keep getting voicemail. I'm not going to bother him if he's helping Maggie. She's more important right now." I could feel Stiles heartbeat pick up.

"Scott, whatever happened between you and Maggie, whatever was said- it doesn't matter. If you honestly think that Maggie would be okay with losing you too, you're worse off than we thought." I closed my eyes for a moment and saw her face perfectly as she wiped her tears away. Stiles didn't understand. He wasn't there.

"That's it, If you won't let me call Maggie then I'm calling Allison and Lydia." I looked over at Stiles confused.

"How are they going to help from Beacon Hills?" I asked watching Stiles look back over his shoulder.

"They're not. They've been following us for hours. I heard Maggie talking to Lydia on the phone before I went home to pack my duffel. She said Allison was already planning to follow us anyway. It's kind of pathetic." Stiles put the phone to his ear and cleared his throat.

"I know you're right behind us, just put me on speaker." Stiles cut Lydia off in the middle of her lie. I wanted to listen into the conversation but I had a loud siren-like sound ringing in my ears making it impossible to focus on anything but my pain.

"I don't know what to do and Maggie isn't answering. I know. Well you try to get in touch with her. Reason with him!? Have you met this guy?" Stiles shifted his body away from me and I closed my eyes. All I kept seeing was Derek falling and Maggie's screams in my head. Part of me was terrified that those two things would be the last things I'd see and hear before this wound took me out and the other part of me knew I deserved it. I just hoped it would be sooner rather than later.

**[Derek's POV]**

I woke startled as sunlight hit my face. I felt like my body had been ripped in half and I was cold for the first time in my entire life. I had managed to drag myself out of the bank but didn't get much further before passing out. When the sun had finally pulled me back to consciousness, I knew I'd lost half the day. I was too close to the school to pick up any familiar scents. I did happen to pick up on one scent pretty strongly and followed it all the way to the parking lot before collapsing again.

"I can't hold you up much longer Derek. Just a little further. Derek!" I felt my body hit the floor heavily with a loud thud but the cold floors and linger smell of dust registered where I'd fallen. The scent of Maggie's tears was thick in the air and the memories of her birthday brought me back.

_"Are you crying?" I asked as Maggie quickly wiped at her face. It was the weekend following her seventeenth birthday and both Isaac and I had scraped together some nice gifts and a little mini birthday dinner despite being swamped by Maggie's training and hunting the alpha pack. I was jealous of the gift Peter had gotten her. It was impressive enough for her to call him dad and that burned my stomach raw. It had been awhile since I'd seen Maggie cry but there she was, sitting on her bed, clutching an old record and crying._

_"I've never seen someone cry over Memories of Motown before." I gestured to the record in her hands, reading the title aloud. She chuckled cutting her eyes at me._

_"It was my mom's. I just…since I was little, every birthday she'd play this record and we'd dance around the house all day. When Peter gave me the player, I remembered that she'd given me the record to take with me whenever I moved. It's one of the only things I've managed to keep track of throughout all the moves." Maggie explained as I walked further into the room, crossing my arms._

_"Why haven't you played it?" I asked curiously. It's not like she ever worried that the music would bother us before._

_"I'm afraid of how it will make me feel. This is my first birthday without any of them. I can't afford to feel that pain right now. I can't let myself get unfocused." It was the first time Maggie had strayed from her cold, robotic training that she'd fallen into since the summer started. I moved over towards the bed and sat down slowly, extending my hand out to take the record from her hands and look it over._

_"My dad was a huge Johnny Cash fan. Had every single one of his record but my mom would only let him play them on holidays. She liked more upbeat music. After the fire, I went out and bought every Cash record I could find and realized that no matter how much I listened to those songs, it just wasn't the same. The only song that ever made me feel anything was Hurt." Maggie snorted._

_"That's like his saddest song." She pointed out making me shake my head._

_"It is but it made me feel again. I was worried that I wouldn't be able to after losing all of them but that one song...all it took was the one song and I knew that I was still alive for a reason." I nudged her shoulder and she leaned her head on it._

_"I wished I could have grown up here with you." Maggie's words surprised me. I didn't know how to respond to that. My mind started to run away thinking about what life would have been like if Anna had married Peter and Maggie grew up with Cora. I knew my mom already had a soft spot for her but what would Laura have thought? Would she have been a hardass on her or would she have been overprotective and soft like she was with some of my littler cousins? My anxiety started to build thinking about Maggie being caught in the fire. She'd gone through her own horribly traumatic events and here we both were. Two totally broken creatures trying to keep each other going. Maggie didn't stay sitting for long. She let out a sigh and pushed herself to her feet._

_"I'm going to get lunch. Make sure Isaac gets up. He needs to keep his arm moving or else it's going to keep hurting and never heal properly." Maggie left me sitting on her bed, grabbing her car keys and wallet before heading down the steps. I waited for her car to start before I grabbed the record and the player to set up downstairs. I kicked Isaac out of bed and forced him to help me find something that we could use for a candle and all he could find was a box of matches. I had a leftover blueberry muffin that I had planned to eat for breakfast tomorrow but instead put the match in the center of it._

_"Why are we doing this exactly?" Isaac asked rubbing the sleep out of his eyes._

_"We've been trying to remind Maggie of her human side. This is her human side." I held up the record earning a strange look._

_"Motown is her human side? Really?" I rolled my eyes and put the record on, making sure to be careful not to scratch it. I could already hear the drag of her tires parking back in her space when I let the needle drop and started the record._

_"Listen baby, ain't no mountain high, ain't no valley low, ain't no river wide enough you need me call me, no matter where you are, no matter how far; don't worry baby. Just call my name; I'll be there in a hurry, you don't have to worry."_

_Maggie opened the door and looked at Isaac and I standing there holding a sad blueberry muffin with a matchstick poking out of the top and she laughed. She let out a fully body, from the stomach laugh and I couldn't help but smile._

_"What are you meatballs doing?" She questioned as Isaac walked over to retrieve the bag of food from her hand._

_"Derek was in the mood for some dancing I suppose." Isaac kissed the top Maggie's head and she crossed her arms over her chest._

_"I'm not dancing but I do have a candle for you to blow out since you didn't get a chance to make a wish on your actual birthday." I held the plate up as the song continued to play._

_"Kinda loses it's magic if it's not my birthday doesn't it?" She snarked._

_"You're the Nyvolore, I think there is plenty of magic." I smirked making her roll her eyes._

_"What if I wish for you to dance with me?" Maggie challenged. I laughed and lit the match watching as she moved carefully towards the flame, pursing her lips together as if she was actually considering a wish before blowing it out._

_"Just in time." Maggie breathed with a soft smile on her face._

_"In time for what?" I asked as she took the muffin from me and sat it on the coffee table before taking my hand and twirling herself around in a circle._

_"My love is alive, way down in my heart. Although we are miles apart. If you ever need a helping hand, I'll be there on the double, just as fast as I can." Maggie sang as she swung my arms around so that I could dance with her. Isaac laughed while munching on his sandwich and dancing in place. Eventually I gave in and started doing a little bit of shuffling on my own. making Maggie laugh._

_"Oh God that is just so bad." Maggie teased me and I only tried harder drawing more laughs out of her._

"Oh God that looks so bad." I opened my eyes to see Jennifer looking down at the bloody wounds that ran across my chest and abdomen. I barely had the strength to form words but I tried anyway.

"How bad?" She looked up shocked that I had even answered her.

"To be honest, the oh my God would be for your unbelievable physique if it weren't for the fact that you're missing chunks of flesh and bleeding black blood." I let my head fall back against the pillow in exhaustion, feeling like passing out again but hearing Jennifer's pleas.

"Oh god you aren't dying are you?! Please don't die Derek." I felt a weight on my chest and wasn't sure what she was doing until she let out a sigh of relief. She had been checking for my heartbeat.

"Just how I imagined our first date." That was the last thing I heard before passing out again. The weight on my chest made me think of Maggie the first night we'd stayed in the loft.

_It was colder than I imagined it'd be. The concrete walls and the giant windows didn't do much for heating the place at night so I made a mental note to work on getting the heat fixed among other things. I'd listened to Isaac's heartbeat as he quickly passed out in the room next to mine. It'd had been a long day of moving things in and instead of badgering Maggie with using her magic, most of the heavy lifting was done by the both of us._

_Maggie's heartbeat was also steady but she wasn't asleep. She kept moving around and jostling in her bed and eventually I heard her sit up. Listening to her move about her room made me tired. The move had taken it out of me and I felt my eyes growing heavy as I continued to read the same line for the fourth time in a row. I heard Maggie's door open slowly before her bare feet walked down the first few steps._

_"Derek?" She called out softly making me look up._

_"You okay?" I asked as she continued down the stairs. She had her sweatpants rolled up to the bottom of her calf and shirt that was far too big to be her own. Her hair was knotted at the top of her head and there were bags under her eyes. Her anxiety was very present though and that's what had me sitting up straight._

_"What's wrong?" I pressed as she stood at the end of my bed._

_"I don't know. I just…I can't sleep. I keep listening to Stiles messages and I miss him. How am I supposed to do this without going completely crazy? How am I supposed to become the thing I need to be to get my pack back if I can't even sleep through the night?" Maggie rubbed at her arms absently and I shook my head._

_"It's our first night in a new place and there's a lot going on right now. Of course you miss Stiles, though how anyone could miss that spastic string bean is beyond me." Maggie chuckled shoving at my foot from under the blanket._

_"Do you ever think about...I don't know, dating?" I looked over at Maggie with pinned eyebrows._

_"Yes because nothing says attractive like living in a loft with two teenagers." I joked earning a heavy eye roll._

_"I'm not saying you should join a website or speed date. I'm just asking if you've ever thought about putting yourself back out there. You can't let what happened with...you can't let that scare you from finding someone to share you life with Derek. You're constantly telling me that we can't survive in this world alone." I was almost embarrassed that Maggie was asking about my love life but to be honest, I hadn't thought about dating in a long time. Trust didn't come easy for me after Kate. There was too much going on in my life now to even think about putting myself out there or bringing anyone into this mess._

_"I'm not alone. I've got you right?" I reminded her._

_"No offense Derek but eventually I hope to actually get my shit together with Stiles and I already know that you'd be the worst third wheel ever so." Maggie teased right back._

_"I can literally think of a million torturous things off the top of my head that I'd rather do than go anywhere in a romantic setting with you and Stiles." Maggie let out a sad laugh and I knew it was because she missed him so much. The only person I ever truly had those kind of deep feelings with was my first love but I hadn't been able to tell Maggie the whole story as far as that was concerned. Not yet anyway._

_"It'll get easier Maggie. We'll help you get through it together okay?" Maggie nodded carefully before gesturing towards my book._

_"Still reading your nerd books?" Maggie teased making me roll my eyes._

_"You know they're really good books. HBO seemed to like it enough to make it a series." I reminded her._

_"A series you didn't even know about because you refused to get a TV. It's a good thing we upgraded your phone and put Netflix on there. Now you can watch the dragons instead of reading about them." Maggie rocked on her feet like she would rather stand there and make conversation instead of trying to sleep._

_"I like to read." I shrugged. She stood awkwardly for a moment, biting her lip._

_"Will you read to me for a bit? At least until I get tired?" Maggie asked sounding like Cora had as a kid, always wanting me to read from her story books and do the animal voices. I patted the place beside me in the bed and Maggie made sure to stay on top of the sheets as she punched at the pillow next to my head. I cleared my throat and opened the book back up._

_"Wait this isn't like happy families and fairy tales right because I'm not about that life." Maggie held her hand up._

_"Quite the opposite actually. These people have worse family problems than we do." Maggie snorted a laugh._

_"I find that hard to believe." She rolled her eyes to the side._

_"A main pairing is a full on incest with brother and sister who actually have children together." I implored and Maggie scrunched her face up._

_"Oh wow, yup they win. That's just…no. Not a fan of incest." Maggie got the chills and I tossed her the blanket at the foot of the bed._

_"I don't think anyone is a legitimate fan of incest." I narrowed my eyes in the distance as she patted my shoulder._

_"Remind me to introduce you to a little show called Supernatural. Entire fandom ships two brothers with separation anxiety and boundary issues. It's insane." I made a mental note to look the show up on my phone before looking over at Maggie to make sure she was comfortable so I could start reading. Maggie remained attentive to the words I was reading, already halfway through the second book of the series and changing my tone just slightly for characters making Maggie chuckle against the pillow she was clutching before finally letting herself fall asleep resting her head against my chest, my arm wrapped around her little frame. I closed the book and sat it on my nightstand where my wallet was sitting. Maggie didn't know that I had a picture of her in my wallet. I imagine she'd think it was strange but Nathan had given me one at the clerk's office when the adoption papers went through. It was a beautiful picture of her smiling brightly on the deck of their house down by the water. She looked absolutely free. She looked like a kid should look, happy and carefree. I didn't see that smile much anymore or that light in her eyes. All we saw these days was fear and anger. I knew it was going to get worse but listening to Maggie's heart beating against my side and the slack in her shoulders as she slept against me, took that fear out of my chest. She had to know that I'd die to protect her._

I opened my eyes again and noticed how dark it had gotten outside the windows. Jennifer was now pacing in front of them holding something in her hands. I sat up slowly and felt the tender wounds on my stomach slowly healing. They still had a long way to go but I could feel the tightening of the skin.

"As if werewolf wasn't enough, you had to be some skeevy guy who dates under-aged girls. I mean Maggie Stevens is 16 for crying out loud." I realized then that Jennifer was holding my wallet in one hand and the picture of Maggie in the other. She'd drawn some insane conclusions just by finding the picture in there and I cleared my throat making her jump.

"She's 17 and I'm not dating her. She's my cousin. I've been taking care of her for the past 6 months." I informed watching Jennifer's face go from disgusted to mortified.

"So you aren't a skeevy guy, you're just a really sweet guy who is raising a teenage girl alone in this chaotic, mass murdering town. Great." She sat my wallet down on the bed next to me, leaving the picture to rest on top of it.

"I'm clearly not doing such a bang up job if I can't even take care of myself but I appreciate the unwarranted praise." I moved to the edge of the bed to try and steady myself but could barely feel my legs.

"It isn't unwarranted. You saved me when you didn't have to. I'm sure that's what you've been doing for Maggie the past 6 months and I'm sure she cares very much about you." I glanced over at the picture and thought back to all those years ago when Anna had visited my mom to tell her about Maggie. It almost felt like fate was a real thing looking at the situation Maggie and I were currently in now.

"When I was younger, I met her mother. She told me that someday Maggie would need me to help her, watch out for her. This isn't the life her mother could have possibly wanted for her. As much as I wanted to be some sort of guardian to her, all I managed to do was hurt her like everyone else has. I stuck the picture back in my wallet and winced when I felt the tear of skin from the movement. Jennifer moved towards me but I put my hand up.

"I need to get up." I tried to push down on the bed so I could get my footing but couldn't plant my weight on my feet without the rest of my body screaming in pain.

"Are you sure you want to do that?" Jennifer questioned nervously as I plopped back down defeated.

"I have to find the others. They think I'm dead." I explained.

"Maybe that's a good thing." I cut my eyes up to Jennifer surprised at her response. Maggie and Cora were probably devastated. I didn't see how that could be a good thing at all.

"You know how many characters in literature use false death to their advantage? You ever read Les Mes? Tale of Two Cities? Romeo and Juliet?" She kept her hands clasped in front of her steadily kneading them from nerves.

"They need to know. I have to see Maggie before she does anything reckless." I pressed.

"That's not a great idea at all. Do you have any idea how bad you look? I mean no offense but I'm not entirely sure you aren't dead. It wouldn't be good for her to see you like this, Derek." Jennifer was right. I knew I needed to tell Maggie and Cora I was alive but if I called them they'd come here and I didn't want Maggie to lose control, not over me. She was already so close to the edge as it was. I couldn't take that chance.

"Look, I totally understand you wanting to let the people you love know that you're okay but if we do that then we should probably at least get you looking a bit more on the road to recovery. I couldn't find any bandages or first aid around here." I couldn't help but smile slightly at Jennifer wondering about first aid.

"We don't typically need them." I informed seeing her blush.

"Okay then how do we fix you up?" She asked curiously kneeling in front of me.

"Time." I shrugged feeling my healing process inching along at an unbearably slow pace.

"I've got lots of that." She smiled reminding me just how dangerous it was for her to be here, helping me. Especially with the alpha pack out for more blood.

"You shouldn't be here." I looked down at my lap not wanting to see a look of disappointment.

"Why's that?" She was quick to counter me but when I looked up at her, she didn't seem disappointed at all. She had a look as though she was ready to challenge me.

"You don't know me. You don't know anything about me." She seemed hopeful even staring at such a broken down person which was oddly comforting.

"Your name is Derek Hale, you're my age and apparently a werewolf. You have an impeccable book collection and have a knack for saving people." I closed my eyes knowing that she was grasping at straws but opened them once she rested her hand on my knee.

"Maybe I have a feeling about you." I met her gaze remembering what Maggie had said all those months ago. I would love to take Jennifer out and get to know her. There was just something about her that intrigued me but that seemed like even more of a reason to keep her at arms length.

"It shouldn't be a good one. Everyone around me...everyone around me gets hurt." I lifted my hand to push hers away but she stopped me.

"I've been hurt before." I could feel her breath on my lips now once she scooted closer to me. I swallowed a nervous lump that had grown in my throat at the closeness we were currently sharing and my utter want to just kiss her.

"Not like this." I tried to give her another warning but it didn't stop her. She leaned forward being very careful about touching me with fear that was either for my wounds or rejection but the moment her lips touched mine, I could feel her trembling. I closed my eyes and let the taste of her lips entice me. It was a quick kiss and I dropped my head slightly the moment she pulled away because of how distracting her heartbeat was.

"Your heart is beating really fast." I muttered trying to lick the taste of her chapstick off my mouth.

"Because I'm really hoping you'll want to keep kissing me but I don't want to force-" I cut Jennifer off unable to wait any longer to kiss her. I lifted my hand to grip the back of her neck and pull her closer to me and she carefully put her hand on my shoulder moaning against my mouth. The more my hands moved to draw her closer to me, the more she relaxed into my touch syncing her body movements with my own to push me back on the bed. Feeling the weight of her body in my hands made my blood pump faster and I could feel her hesitate for a moment making me stop to look at her.

"Just so you know I don't do this often. I just...I really like you and I want this. I just don't want you to think I like fix bloody guys up just to sleep with them." I had to smile at her, pushing her hair away from her face.

"I really like you too and I want this if you want this but we don't have to-" This time Jennifer was the one cutting me off with a kiss. It was hungry and raw and I let my hands roam up the back of her blouse until I felt the fabric of her bra teasing my fingertips. She pushed up from my chest, and straddled my hips to pull her blouse over her head. She smiled nervously before letting her nails run down my stomach pulling a wanting groan from my throat. She swiveled her hips down against mine feeling how hard I was becoming making me sit up and wrap my arms around her. She used both hands to keep my head in place as I licked and tugged at her lips pulling more moans out of her mouth when I moved to her neck.

"Derek." My name sounded sweeter coming out of Jennifer's mouth as I ran my hands up her back to unclasp her bra. She shivered at the finesse my hands seemed to have leaving her chest exposed to me now. I brought my hands back around to cup her breast softly as I continued to suckle marks into the column of her throat, feeling her pulse steadily and biting it gently.

"For someone who could barely move five minutes ago, you're doing pretty well right now." Jennifer licked her lips before letting out a surprised squeak when I flipped her onto her back and moved in between her legs to hover over top of her.

"I didn't have much motivation until right now." I breathed unzipping the pencil skirt she'd hiked up in order to straddle me moments ago. She pushed her hand on my thigh to lift herself enough for me to remove it from her body. The moment I balanced myself above her almost naked body, I felt her enthusiasm amplify as she laced her legs around my hips and pulled me in to grind her hips up into my fully hard cock. I let a moan escape my mouth, resting my forehead on her chest and mouth down her chest. I felt her shiver as I circled her nipple with my tongue. She instinctively gripped my hair tightly in her hand and I rolled my hips up to pull another moan out of her. She used her heels to push at my sweatpants and I pulled away from her. She opened her eyes and stared up at me with confusion. I was nervous. If she were a werewolf, she would have been able to tell how nervous I was to be doing this but she didn't. She just let her hand travel up my chest to my cheek with concern.

"We don't have to do this if you don't to." Jennifer reassured. I bit my lip.

"It's just...it's been a really long time since I've done this. I kind of have...trust issues." Jennifer's eyes went wide.

"Oh I completely understand that. I can't even remember the last time I made out with a guy let alone took my clothes off with one. I have intimacy issues. So really I think we're kind of perfect for each other in that aspect. Wow this is awful. I'm sorry, I tend to ramble when I'm nervous and I am really naked." Jennifer put her hands over her face and I laughed. I felt like a total asshole but I couldn't help myself. I laughed out loud at how utterly cute she was at such a tense moment. I had completely started to kill the mood and here she was trying to make it better.

"I'm sorry I don't mean to laugh." Jennifer pulled her hands from her face and returned a smile.

"Strangely enough under these circumstances, I like your laugh. You should do it more." She dared a touch with her fingertips over my jaw and I blushed.

"I feel like it's probably some great honor to make a werewolf blush so either way I won." Jennifer's body started to ease as I leaned down to kiss her once more. Slowing down slightly and just going back to kissing her seemed to calm me down.

"I just want you so badly and it kind of freaks me out." I confessed feeling her hand rest over my heart.

"Then we go slow and maybe after a couple of times it won't freak you out so bad?" Jennifer must have realized what she'd implied before my eyebrow went up.

"Either you are really confident in my abilities or just insanely optimistic." I teased her playfully as she rolled her eyes.

"What can I say, I'm a teacher. Repetition and moral support are kind of my thing." Jennifer laughed at herself and I shook my head.

"You're beautiful." I felt like an idiot for not having said it sooner but Jennifer stared up at me with soft eyes.

"So are you." She moved her hand back behind my neck and pulled me back down to her lips, kissing me slowly. This time when she moved her heels along the back of my pants, I helped her push them and my briefs from my body. She let out an audible gasp when I left her lips to trail sloppy kisses down her body so I could remove her panties swiftly, tasting her and making her jump until she was free of them. I lingered for a few moments under the sheets before I felt her hand literally dragging me back to her lips to squeeze my hips between her thighs. My cock was slick and ran across her clit making her buck her hips every time I moved against her, quickly making her impatient.

"Derek...I can't wait any longer...please." Jennifer begged and I took a deep breathe before I slipped inside of her. The sensation was familiar but the pull of her was unlike anything I'd ever felt with anyone else. Her nails scrapped down my back as I started to thrust into her slowly giving her time to grow comfortable with me.

"Oh God!" She cried breathy letting her head fall back against the bed and exposing her next to me. I took that opening to suck marks into her neck as hard as I could.

"Don't stop." Her fingers went back into my hair, massaging my scalp and tugging on my hair. My wolf was dying to surface but I had enough control of it at this point that I wouldn't take the chance of letting it take control. The last thing I wanted to do was hurt Jennifer. I just wanted to make her feel good.

"Fuck." Her ankles locked behind my back pulling me in further and I could feel her deliberately clenching herself around me pushing me closer to losing it altogether.

"Derek! Oh...I'm so close. Please don't stop." Jennifer cried as I quickened my pace, thrusting into her with enough force to hear the bed quickly creak as I felt a burning low in my stomach. The more Jennifer moaned, the closer I started to fall over the edge until she finally let out a scream of pleasure. Her hand ran down my back, slick with sweat and gripped my bare ass as I continued my thrusts into her. When I finally came, I felt my whole body shake above her. She held onto my bicep and kissed my forearm as I slowed my hips down to a full stop. I licked my lips and lowered myself, still inside of her but completely spent and shivering, sensitive to the touch.

"Are you okay?" I asked hoarsely and she brought her forehead up to rest against mine.

"I'm okay. We're okay." The words felt right and I believed them as she said them. I wasn't sure if it was because Jennifer got my blood pumping or if it was a reboot to my adrenaline that healed my body but I was no longer in any pain. All I felt was bliss. Jennifer kissed me softly and kept repeating in my ear that we were going to be alright and I let my head rest on her chest truly believing that we would indeed be alright.


	9. Promises We Made

**[Cora's POV]**

Derek was alive. Maggie said it and I didn't think twice about believing her. Derek had explained to me how her latching thing worked and even though it sent her entire body into a whirlwind of panic, she did it willingly. The moment we got her back on her feet, it's like she was determined to find out where Derek had crawled off to but she could barely walk a straight line. She was sweating, blinking rapidly every now and again and rubbing at her temples like her brain was ready to explode out of her ears.

"Maybe we should just take a minute." Maggie hopped out of the car and shook her head at me not wanting to stop for even a second. I didn't want to admit it but Derek was right about how she has a lot of Laura's qualities. We once played a game of tag that got a little too rough and Laura ended up caught in some barbed wire but she didn't even stop for a second to unwrap herself. She was too worried about making sure none of our littler cousins got tangled up in it to even care that she was tearing the skin of her legs apart.

"I'm fine. We need to find Derek. He could still be in danger and bleeding out in some parking lot or something." Maggie's eyes fluttered and she stumbled into a parked van before I could catch her.

"You know what? I'm older and making the executive decision that you need to stop and take a minute." I moved her to sit on a raised slab of concrete down the block from wherever she was taking us. These days I barely recognized Beacon Hills.

"Something's wrong with Lydia. She's upset about something, panicked. I can feel it." Maggie put her palms on her knees like she was trying to catch her breath.

"How could you possibly know that?" I questioned earning a huff from Peter.

"Don't you know? Lydia and Maggie are joined. It's rather profound." He leered devilishly but I was still lost in his annoying riddles.

"Lydia and I shared a blood connection thanks to _murders-a-lot_ over here." Maggie jerked her head in Peter's direction making me eye him. I knew that he had killed Maggie but I wasn't aware that he'd also attacked Lydia. I'm not sure what roll she played in all of this but she did seem important to Maggie.

"Sometimes I feel what she feels and sometimes I see things, glimpses. I think I'm dreaming but I'm just seeing what she sees when she's in a high stress environment. The splitting headaches are something I've yet to get under control but I imagine that's just a side effect. I'll be fine, I promise. The clinic is just up around the corner." Maggie got to her feet and ran her hand through her hair as if that would ease the tension in her head.

"Why must we always resort to asking this washed up pet detective for help?" Peter sounded like a child as he kicked his feet on the pavement.

"He was good enough for Talia which means he's good enough for me. Don't act like he's never been useful. He helped me figure out how to use my abilities." It was strange to think that Maggie had seen my mom in some sort of unconscious state. It made me want to ask her a bunch of questions that I knew would be stupid and pointless but I was still curious. How did she look? Was she proud of me? Did she miss me as much as I missed her? I cleared my throat and focused back to the conversation.

"A veterinarian helped you with your powers? How is that even possible?" I questioned watching Maggie fan herself as she walked like she was overheated.

"Because he's not just a veterinarian, he's an emissary. Your mother's to be exact. In my visions of her, she reassures me that Deaton is a friend, not a foe." Maggie started to walk sideways into Peter and he moved out of her way like she was covered in something he didn't want touching him. It wasn't very fatherly at all.

"Speaking of visions, you look awful. Maybe we should be taking you to a real doctor." I stopped her outside of the clinic and she pushed her hair over her shoulder, taking in a deep breath.

"Oh please and tell them what? She had a psychic premonition and seems a bit flustered?" Peter squinted his eyes at the clinic like he was annoyed just by my suggestion.

"Someone has to worry about her since clearly you aren't as father of the year' as you claim to be." I was really starting to be over Peter's constant negative shadow especially now without Derek being around to reel him in before I give into the urge to knock his teeth out.

"Oh my God, how can anyone have time to be sad about Derek when I have you two around? It's like Derek never left. I've literally never felt more like a Hale until this very moment" Maggie chuckled putting her hand on my forearm.

"Cora, I swear I'll be fine as soon as I talk to Deaton." Maggie looked at me trying to convince me that she was going to be okay but she was starting to smell different. Not like a dying sort of different but a strange, fleeting perfume that came and went but wasn't something I'd ever smelt on her. It was almost like she was taking on someone else's scent.

"Fine. Are we going in or what?" I knew the sooner we dealt with this Deaton guy, the sooner Maggie could sit down and take a moment to herself. We both turned to walk toward the building but Peter gripped my arm tightly.

"What is your-"

"Be quiet." Peter narrowed his eyes at the ground for a moment.

"They're here." Maggie spoke up taking a step towards the building.

"Who?" I looked from her to Peter as he made to grab Maggie's arm.

"All of them." Peter had pulled Maggie back but she shook herself free.

"Wait a minute, how do we know it's them? What if it's Derek? How do we know who is actually in there?" I questioned but Maggie chuffed.

"I plan to find out." Peter was able to grab Maggie's arms from behind and pull her back into the both of us just as the side door of the clinic flew open and out walked Aiden and Kali. The three of us ducked down and Peter held his hand over Maggie's mouth as she thrashed slightly. I kept my eyes on the reflection of them pacing in the car opposite of where we sat as Aiden gripped Kali's wrists to restrain her. She let out a growl so loud that it shook the cars in parking lots two buildings over. Peter's hand moved from Maggie's mouth and gripped my hand.

"I know one thing, that's not for Derek. We have to get as far away from here as possible." He pulled me with him as we shuffled Maggie back down the block as quickly and quietly as we could. The moment we were back to the car, I shoved Maggie into the back seat and took off.

"I just texted Deaton. He's going to meet us at Nathan's. Just go there." Maggie pulled her shirt over her head so that she was now in a tank top.

"Great, another person who I'm so fond of." I looked over at Peter and ignored whatever he seemed to be bitching about considering Maggie didn't feel it needed to be commented on. Whatever had gotten Kali so upset only meant there would be more backlash and I honestly don't think we were ready for anymore backlash at this point.

Nathan saw us pull down the driveway and ran to the car once he saw Maggie struggling to get out.

"What happened?! Are you okay?" He almost picked her up off her feet but she put her hand on his shoulder stopping him.

"She's just a little light headed, not a paraplegic. Calm down Gilligan." Peter clicked his tongue to his teeth and Nathan tensed.

"A little light headed coming from the guy who tried to gut her tends to have me on the disbelieving side so excuse me if I tell you to go fuck yourself Darth Vader." Nathan bit back as we entered the house. Maggie planted her hands on the counter and I started to fill a glass with water.

"You know this isn't the loft. You can't just barge in here-"

"She's my daughter so I'm pretty sure I can barge where ever I want." Peter grinned smugly at him but Nathan didn't back down.

"Yeah well I have a shotgun filled with wolfsbane bullets that says-" Maggie slamming her fist down on the counter makes Nathan stop his rebuttal.

"My head already feels like it's going to explode so if you two don't mind shutting the hell up for like 5 minutes that would be awesome." Maggie cringed and I pushed the water into her hand.

"Thank you." She said in a whisper putting her hand on top of mine. Peter walked back outside and put separation between himself and Nathan which was surprisingly mature.

"I'm calling Deaton." Nathan pulled out his cellphone and Maggie shook her head.

"I've already texted him. He's not in the best company right now so all we can do is wait for him to respond." Maggie explained.

"Well what can we do to lessen the pain of Lydia's pull or whatever is going on with you?" Maggie smiled sadly at me like she was hating that I had to see her like this but I didn't care. This wasn't about me, it was about her. I couldn't be stuck here with just Peter. If my entire family was going to die off on me, I needed to have Maggie around.

"There are two stones up on my desk in a brown bag. One is lavender and the other is a royal blue with golden streaks through it. If you could grab those for me that would be great." Maggie moved towards the living room and I ran up to retrieve the stones like she'd asked. She could have just told me that they were crystals. I rolled them in my hands as I carried them down to her and she was taking deep, calming breaths.

"You could have just told me the amethysts and lazuli." I put them in her palm and she rested then on her forehead.

"You know crystals?" Maggie looked surprised and I bit the inside of my cheek.

"My dad was a collector. Derek always thought it was cool but I just thought they were pretty rocks." Maggie chuckled at me. Dad was always a collector of weird, nerdy things. I'm convinced that's why Derek was so into sports. He had to balance out the inner nerd he was hiding.

"The more I learn about you guys, the more bummed I get that we didn't grow up together. I think it would have been a lot of fun." Maggie smiled as she leaned her head back against the couch.

"Yeah considering how it turned out for the rest of the family, it's probably a good thing you didn't." Maggie's smile faltered at the morbid turn I took. I couldn't help but be pessimistic sometimes. I'd been on my own for so long, the bitterness only grew over time. It was weird enough having Maggie thrown in my face and now that Derek was gone, I felt like it was my responsibility to protect her.

"This one is for you actually." Maggie held the amethyst out to me and I took it eyeballing it.

"What for?" I asked rolling it around in my hand again.

"It's for nervousness. I can feel your anxiety about everything that's going on. This will help calm you. Just roll it around in your hand like you're doing and picture the breeze on your face. If you need to step out for a few minutes, it's okay. I'll be okay. I'm just waiting for Deaton to call back and my migraines already subsiding so take some time for yourself okay?" Maggie gave my thigh a light punch. Maybe I was wrong. Growing up with Maggie would have probably been fun. I feel as though we would have been best friends in another life.

"I worry about you too." Maggie added before looking down at her phone.

"Is it Deaton?" I glanced down and she shook her head.

"No apparently something is up with Scott. He's depressed or something. I don't really know but I have to focus on Derek right now." I watched Maggie toss her phone on the table and readjust the stone on her forehead.

"You've known Scott your whole life right?" I sat down in the chair next to her and she exhaled.

"For the majority of it, yeah." She kept her eyes closed.

"He was the first one that Peter turned right? Before you came back to town?" She cracked her eye open and looked over at me.

"Are we going somewhere with this Cor?" I couldn't deny the jolt of nostalgia I had when Maggie used a nickname Laura had always used for me.

"Derek tried to catch me up as much as he could but basically from what I've gathered Scott is more than just your best friend. He's like your brother." At this point Maggie had removed the stone from her head and opened both eyes to look at me, still relaxed back on the cushion.

"You can't blame Scott for what happened to Derek." I said simply and she waited a moment before answering.

"Why not?" Her voice cracked slightly.

"Other than it not being his fault? Derek wouldn't want you to. He'd want you to hold onto Scott, get through it together and support one another." I explained.

"How do you know that?" Maggie swallowed hard and I could hear the doubt slip down her throat without much ease at all.

"Because I know my brother and the most important thing to him is family...pack. Scott _is_ your family." She kept her eyes on me and I leaned forward to put the stone in my hand on her forehead. She stopped my hand and held onto my wrist. For a second I thought she was about to try something super aggressive but instead she pulled it to rest on her cheek and I felt her huff out a breath as she clung to me. As werewolves, touch is something we respond to on a pretty broad level. It's a comfort thing and I didn't mind Maggie using my touch to comfort herself when all the things around us were up in the air.

The only thing that made her pull away was my phone ringing in my pocket. We both were pretty confused considering most of the people who actually had my number were already here or presumed dead but when I saw it was Boyd I answered it.

"Hey everything okay?" I asked sitting back down next to Maggie.

"Not really. Maggie isn't answering her phone." Maggie looked at me hearing Boyd and frowned.

"She's not feeling great right now. What's going on?" I pressed.

"Something's wrong with Scott. He hasn't healed from the fight and he's starting to smell like death." Maggie sat up and I put the phone on speaker.

"How do you know he's dying?" I asked carefully hearing Boyd let out a sigh.

"Because it's the same way Erica smelled. I know what dying smells like and he's...he can't even walk on his own. Stiles and Lydia somehow got Coach to pull over but we won't be off the road for long." Boyd sounded like he was pacing.

"Why are you pacing?" I blurted annoyed at him making my anxiety return.

"I don't know Cora, I'm stuck on the side of the road with one of the guys who tortured and killed two people I care about, Scott seems to be bleeding out in a rest stop bathroom and Isaac is about two seconds from going off and tearing this prick apart and frankly I might just join him." Boyd was on edge.

"Boyd, you need to keep him calm, do you hear me? If Isaac loses control then it's going to be hard to explain a lot of things and we don't have time to deal with damage control." Maggie spoke up getting up from the chair abruptly.

"What are you going to do?" He questioned and I looked to Maggie who looked around the room for a moment before looking down at her phone on the table.

"I'm going to call Lydia." Maggie snatched up her phone and ran up the stairs towards her room.

"What...what is that going to do? What am I supposed to do here?" Boyd raised his voice.

"Keep your head on okay? Keep Isaac from killing anyone and you call me if Ethan makes any moves. Something happened at the clinic. I think Ennis is dead which means-"

"Be on alert. Got it. Stay alive okay?" Boyd sounded worried.

"You too." I hung up and ran up the steps after Maggie who was gritting her teeth.

"She's not answering." Maggie jumped when the phone went off in her hand hoping it was Lydia but when her face dropped I knew it wasn't.

"Deaton-"

"We don't have much time. I need you to meet me at the Hale house as soon as you can. It's urgent." I could hear the dread in Deaton's voice.

"I'm on the way now." Maggie hangs up the phone and turns to me with torn eyes.

"It's okay. We will keep looking for Derek." Maggie stepped towards me.

"It's not safe for you to just go out there-" I gripped her hands.

"Okay then we'll stay here and watch the board thing you have. If Derek pops up or makes any moves, we'll call you. You need to get to Scott and keep Boyd from letting Isaac kill Ethan." Nathan came to the top of the stairs and Maggie looked over my shoulder at him.

"I'm meeting with Deaton, please stay in the house. It's warded and the alphas can't get in or even approach it. You'll be safe here so please just stay put." She grabbed a bag and walked towards Nathan.

"We'll be fine but you be careful out there too Kid. I need you to call me where ever you end up." Nathan pointed his finger at her chest and she nodded quickly before throwing me one last glance and taking off down the steps. I listened to her car pull up the gravel driveway as I carried the board with the pendants on it down the steps to the kitchen table.

"You didn't kill Peter and throw him in the water did you?" I joked trying to ease the tension in the room as Nathan moved around the kitchen.

"I wouldn't do that. As much as I hate the guy, I'd never do that to Maggie." I looked over at him and nodded.

"I'm sure that's a struggle but one that Maggie probably appreciates very much." Nathan shrugged.

"You never know when you're going to need a new liver. If Maggie ever gets sick or something we can just take Peter's. It's really only for insurance purposes." I chuckled at the joke and hadn't realized Nathan was looking me.

"Thanks for sticking around." I looked over at him and returned his nod.

"She's family." I said simply before turning my gaze back to the board and praying for any signs of movement from Derek's pendant.

**[Lydia's POV]**

Allison and I watched the bus pull off the exit to the rest stop ahead but judging by the amount of people barreling off the bus, I didn't want to know what Stiles did to convince Coach to stop. Allison parked the car and ran towards Stiles as he tried to get his arm under Scott's. I could already see the black blood soaked through his shirt on the left side. Isaac came stumbling out with Boyd on his phone. I followed behind Stiles and Allison as they drug Scott into the men's room and sat him on the dirty floor.

I stood back and let Allison take the lead, too afraid of just how bad the damage was up close and personal. Scott whimpered as Allison pulled the shirt away from his chest to reveal deep, gashes oozing the infected blood. I covered my mouth feeling alarm building in my chest, begging for a scream to belt from my mouth.

"Oh my God. Why didn't you tell us?" Allison asked incredulously.

"Sorry." Scott smiled quite literally like a wounded puppy.

"Just give us a second okay?" Allison put his shirt back into place and he let his eyes slip shut but his scrunched expression he held meant that even closing his eyes didn't help the pain.

"This shouldn't be happening. I've seen him heal from worse than this." Allison stressed.

"Okay so what do we do? Call an ambulance?" Stiles pitched.

"What if it's too late? What if they can't help?" They both kept throwing up suggestions but all I could do was piece together the problem in my head and try to tap into whatever it was that Maggie and I had together so she knew how dire this situation was. I still didn't fully understand it but I knew that sometimes when I was feeling stressed out, Maggie would call and just know things weren't okay.

"We've got to do something." Stiles paced.

"It could be psychological." I finally jumped into the conversation and they both looked at me confused.

"What? You mean like psychosomatic?" Stiles almost had it but he wasn't quite there.

"Somatoformic." I corrected him.

"Soma-" Stiles narrowed his gaze at me annoyed.

"It's a physical illness from a psychogenic cause." Both Allison and Stiles were practically glaring at me now.

"It's all in his head." I simplified it the best I could and the both took a step back like they finally understood.

"All in his head?" Allison questioned looking down at Scott confused as to why he wouldn't let himself heal.

"Because of Derek. He won't let himself heal because Derek died and he thinks Maggie blames him." Stiles braced his hands behind his head in defeat, glancing down at his best friend who lay bleeding out on the floor of a rest stop bathroom.

"That's insane. Maggie would never do that." Allison crossed her arms over her chest unwilling to believe that Maggie would ever turn against Scott. I didn't believe she'd make Scott feel guilty but Maggie's always been hard to read for me. The only thing I knew was that I could feel her hopelessness after Derek's death. A hopelessness and pain that no one could ease no matter how hard we tried.

"We need Maggie here now. She may be the only one who can save him." Stiles bit the knuckle of his index finger on his right hand eagerly.

"Even if we got a hold her, it would take her hours to get here and we don't have that kind of time." I reminded Stiles looking down at Scott who lulled against the pipes of the sink.

"Then what do we do?" Allison looked to Stiles like he'd have some kind of solution like he typically did but he was just as shaken as the rest of us. What would Maggie do? She'd slap some sense into Scott and tell him that it wasn't his fault but outside of that, what would she do to keep someone alive? I still didn't know what I was but I knew I didn't have super healing or the ability to take someone else's pain away. I had the highest GPA in our school and a keen fashion sense but how could that help here?

I started to dig through my bag before placing my hands on the mini sewing kit I kept with me at all times in case of emergencies. I found that running in heels could result in dress snags quite often than not.

"We stitch him up." Stiles and Allison looked at me like I was crazy which I was used to by now.

"I'm serious. Maybe all he needs to do is just believe it's healing. We'll psych him out and hopefully it'll buy us some time to get him to Maggie." I explained handing the box to Allison.

"Do you know what you're doing?" Stiles rubbed his hands together looking at Allison as she pulled her sweater off and tossed it in the sink.

"My dad taught me but he's going to need another shirt. Can you grab his bag from the bus?" She started to take the needle and thread from the box and Stiles cringed.

"Yeah I can do that since I hate needles but like how much time will this take? I'm not sure I'll be able to stall the Coach for very long." Stiles scratched the back of his head and I grabbed his arm.

"I'll help with that and keep trying Maggie. You yell if you need us okay?" Allison was heating the needle with a lighter as Stiles and I ran back out to see everyone scattered about. Stiles ran towards the bus and I closed my eyes tightly trying to focus on Maggie.

The last time I saw her, she was in pajamas with holes in them, hair a mess and hadn't put on makeup in days. I had been helping Stiles take care of her while she dealt with the depression of losing Derek but she hadn't said much of anything. I focused on the image of her I had in my head just to open any line of communication.

"Come on Maggie. Answer me." I dug my foot into the dirt and jumped when I felt a hand on my shoulder. It was Isaac.

"How's he doing?" Isaac kept his eyes on the men's room listening for any signs of distress and I looked back praying that the stiches would work.

"Allison is working on fixing him up right now. We need help stalling the Coach though. Think you can handle that?" I probed earning a hesitant nod. I noticed Boyd on the phone and stopped Isaac from walking away.

"Is he talking to Maggie?" I asked pulling my hand from his arm.

"No it's Cora but she's with Maggie." I crossed my arms growing more and more irritated that she was apparently too busy to return my call but Cora seemed unoccupied enough to talk to Boyd.

"Boyd told her that Scott wasn't healing. She should be calling you-" Isaac hadn't even finished his sentence before my phone started ringing in my hand and Maggie's face popped up on the screen.

"Lydia? What's going on? Talk to me." I covered my free ear to try and hear Maggie over the sound of everyone talking outside of the bus but couldn't.

"Hang on." I started to fast walk to the car and hopped in, almost screaming when the driver side door opened and Stiles jumped in.

"Lydia? Lydia are you there? Can you hear me?" Maggie asked again raising her voice slightly. I put the phone on speaker and rested it on the dash.

"Yeah I'm here. I can hear you." I looked over at Stiles and he didn't seem upset that I didn't let her know he was able to hear her.

"What's going on with Scott? Boyd said he isn't healing." Maggie rehashed what Cora must have relayed to her via Boyd and I glanced over at Stiles trying to think of a way we could tell her Scott might be dying without making her go off the deep end any more than she already was.

"Scott isn't allowing himself to heal because of his guilt. Allison is trying to stitch him up but Maggie we need you here." I pressed letting her know how gloomy the situation was.

"How is it even possible for his guilt to keep him from healing?" She sounded almost like she couldn't believe that this was happening and Stiles snatched the phone off the dash.

"We don't know but he's dying Maggie!" He practically shrieked making her pause on her end either at the surprise of Stiles entering the conversation or the news he was giving her.

"I don't...how am I...how can I fix that?" She was clearly unsure and scared of how to approach the situation but I remembered what Stiles had mentioned in the bathroom.

"Did you say that Scott thinks Maggie blames him for Derek? Why would he think that?" I looked at Stiles but before he could answer Maggie spoke up.

"Because I was a total asshole to him before you guys took off. If he's not letting himself heal it's because of me." Stiles closed his eyes tightly and whispered a soft dammit Maggie under his breath but I knew we could both hear it.

"Then you need to give him your forgiveness. It's the only way he'll pull through this." I explained decisively. There was a moment of silence between the line that filled the car and Stiles leaned forward in the seat.

"Maggie, we need you here...please." He was desperate. We all were. We couldn't take another loss at this point. We couldn't take on everything that was happening in Beacon Hills without both Derek and Scott. If we lost them, we'd lose Maggie to the darkness that plagued her and never get her back.

"I'm on my way." I could hear movement on the line and Stiles and I both sat up straight.

"What? How? You'll never make it in time." Stiles asked frantically looking out to Coach who was yanking more towels away from one of the girls at the bottom of the steps.

"You have your pendant right?" Maggie asked and Stiles and I exchanged I look. I pulled mine out of my pocket and held it in my hand.

"Yeah I've got mine." I held onto it tightly.

"Good, just keep holding onto it and focus like you've been doing. I can feel it Lydia. I'll be there as soon as I can just hold on." Maggie gave us some hope to hang on to as we jumped out of the car but all I did was nervously massage the pendant in my hand and pace.

"I thought the pendant was just a location thing?" Stiles asked gesturing to my hand as I paced and looked towards the bathrooms with no sign of Allison or Scott.

"Maggie thinks the connection between us is because Peter attacked me and her on the same night. Like we had some sort of blood fusion or something. Sometimes she can feel what I feel. It's bizarre but what about all of this isn't?" Stiles looked me up and down for a moment.

"Can you feel what she feels?" He questioned clearly interested.

"Sometimes I think I can but I'm not sure. Since being attacked and finding out about all the creatures that reside in Beacon Hills, I feel like I live in a constant state of hysteria so who can really tell anymore." I pursed my lips watching as Coach ran back off the bus waving his hand.

"Hold up everybody, we can't load up just yet. The boss is calling. He better not be cancelling this meet because I didn't suffer through this bus ride for nothing." I smiled to myself knowing that there was no way that the Principal would have such good timing. Maggie had to be behind that phone call.

"Come on Maggie." I bounced on the balls of my feet in anticipation as Stiles and I scanned the crowd of people, waiting to have to create more distractions to buy as much time for Allison and Maggie as we could. All we could do now was wait.

**[Maggie's POV]**

I scrambled to the Hale house to pull up the floor boards and retrieve the things Derek and I had left scattered there in case of emergency. Scott dying definitely qualified as an emergency. I tried not to think about the choice I was really making. Cora was right. It's what Derek would want me to do even if that meant giving up the search for him. It was my fault that Scott hadn't let his wounds heal. I'd put that huge burden on him as if making him feel my pain would somehow lessen mine but it didn't. Now I was forced to do a spell I'd never done before on a whim.

"Whatever your plan is, I can already tell it's a reckless one." Somehow Deaton was still very good at sneaking up on me despite all the time we'd spent together this summer.

"Scott's dying. I can't sit here and let that happen. I can't lose him and Derek in one fell swoop." I explained seeing concern in his break. He hadn't known about Scott but he also knew what I was going to try and do just to save him so he was visibly torn.

"So your plan is to use a spell powerful enough to get you from here to there to do what exactly?" He asked stepping towards me as I piled everything on the table Isaac's unconscious body once laid what feels like months ago.

"It's Scott, Deaton. I'll do whatever I have to do in order to save him." I stared at him for a moment and watched his face soften as he let out a content sigh.

"I'd expect nothing less however you have to know what using this kind of magic will do to you. Once you use so much of your magic at once, you'll be temporarily cut off. The only thing you will be able to use is your wolf abilities." Deaton explained. I was still pretty strong when I was only tapping into my wolf but there was no way I could heal Scott on my own without my magic.

"It wouldn't be the first time I had to use just the wolf." I brushed it off and gripped the table when a surge of shakiness hit me hard and Deaton put his hand on my arm.

"I can do this. I can save him." I tried to comfort him despite having to steady myself against the table.

"I know you can, I just want you to come out of it in one piece." Deaton ducked his head slightly and turned the page of the book, letting it cut his finger so that he could turn the page. I looked down and read the spell over. There was a good chance this spell could do more than just leave me without my magic for an extended period of time. It could also shred some of my skin which didn't sound appealing at all.

"Focus on Lydia. Close your eyes and take a deep breath." I did as Deaton directed keeping my hands above her pendant. The pain in my head started to throb, my skin heating up to the point that sweat was starting to roll down my back and my arms felt heavy. I mumbled the words of the spell and visualized Lydia in my head. I could see her pacing back and forth, running her hand through her hair and scanning her eyes around herself as if she was watching for danger. Something started to thrum deep in my stomach like heavy cramps were trying to rip through my organs almost making it too painful to say the spell.

"Keep breathing Maggie. Keep focusing on Lydia and keep breathing." Deaton's voice almost seemed far away as I felt the room spinning around me. I felt like I was in one of those space ship rides they always had at the Beacon Hills carnival when I was a kid. It always made Stiles throw up and for a moment I thought I might too. My whole body was sweating, my stomach felt like my intestines were going to rupture and my head might actually pop off my body at any moment and on top of all those wonderful things I felt like my body was being tossed around inside of a twister.

"I CAN'T! DEATON! I CAN'T-" I screamed moments before I felt like a truck had just run smack into me, sending my body hurling backwards. I prepared myself to hit the dusty, charred floorboards of the Hale house but instead I hit dusty rocks. I opened my eyes slowly and took in my surroundings. There were mountains of jagged rocks and sand everywhere. I let muddled panic take over for a hot minute thinking maybe I'd somehow screwed up and ended up a random desert in the middle of nowhere until I heard Coach's whistle. I coughed out the dusty film that had filled my lungs as I pushed up from the dirt and felt the full body pain I was in. My headache was gone and I didn't feel like I was giving birth but my body felt like it had been sucked through a straw.

"LET'S GO! EVERY BODY ON THE BUS!" Coach yelled. I pushed myself to jog towards the sound of his voice and caught sight of the bus filling with students, Stiles and Lydia freaking out. If I had my magic, I'd just throw something off under the hood of the bus but since I was flying solo wolfie, I had to improvise. I started to feel around my body to see if all the things I kept on my person managed to come with me and luckily they did. I unstrapped the dagger I had in my boot and walked over to the back tire, waiting carefully for the driver to look away from the mirror before using all my strength to puncture the tire. My arms felt like they wanted to fall off using so much force but it did the trick. I pulled the dagger out and watched the tire start to deflate rounding the bus and clearing my throat.

"Hey Coach, the back tire is looking pretty low. I'm not sure what's wrong with it." Coach looked confused to see me standing there but not as surprised as Lydia and Stiles who had wide eyes and dropped jaws.

"Stevens…I thought you were…you know…not pregnant." He waved his hand around in front of himself and I shrugged.

"Wow Coach, glad to know you noticed me getting on the bus this morning. I feel real special." Stiles and Lydia walked away from him towards me and Lydia grabbed my arm to pull me away from the back of the bus. I winced slightly feeling the jolt of my bones in my arm and she let go.

"How did you get here so fast? That's not even…we hung up with you like 15 minutes ago." Stiles reached out and touched my shoulder like he didn't believe I was real.

"It's a spell I hope I never have to use again considering it feels like I was dragged behind the bus at warped speed." Stiles moved his hand from my shoulder to my cheek and I put my hand on top of his.

"I'm okay." I patted his hand before moving it away from my face.

"You should get in there. Scott needs you." Lydia pressed making Stiles clear his throat as he pocketed his hands.

"Where is he?" I questioned and Lydia pointed towards the men's room. I shook my head at them and pushed away from Stiles, sprinting towards the restroom.

"Scott! Come on Scott!" Allison was straddling Scott's legs and held his face in her hands. She whipped around when my boots skidded to a halt.

"He's not breathing! I stitched him up but he's not…he's not breathing." I pulled on her shoulder and she rolled to the side so I could take her place.

"Scott? Come on Scott, open your eyes. SCOTT!" I slapped him across the face with my palm but his eyes didn't even flutter.

"God dammit Scott! Don't you dare leave me like this! You don't get to die on me, do you hear me!? COME ON!" Tears started to well up in my eyes as I gripped the back of his neck and rest my forehead against his.

"Scotty please don't leave me here. I can't…I can't do this without you. I need you. Please please don't go. Please." I pleaded with Scott letting my tears fall down my cheeks onto his bare chest.

"Do you remember that night we spent outside on the hammock and I told you about what had happened with Caroline and Evie…do you remember what you said to me when I told you about finding my mom that night?" I pressed my head into Scott's harder.

"You told me that I won't ever have to feel that alone ever again. You promised me that you would never leave me Scotty. Please…please don't break that promise. I love you so much. You have to fight this. I can't lose you too. I just…I can't." I was sobbing now putting my head on his chest. The scent of his blood seeping out of the wound reminded me of the conversation we once had about a blood tie. I let my claws come out on my right hand and squeezed them into my fist, drawing blood before pressing it to his wound.

"Come on Scotty. WAKE UP!" I growled and this time Scott's eyes shot open and he took in a huge breath making Allison and I both jump.

"That's good. Keep breathing, in and out Scotty. Just like that." I stroked his face relieved and his lip trembled.

"I'm sorry! I'm so sorry Mags. It's my fault…it's all my fault." It was the first words he breathed and that broke something inside of me.

"No…Scott it's not your fault. None of it was your fault okay? It was my fault." I took the blame and rubbed one of his tears off his cheek before it could fall any further. Scott had always been the most sensitive one of us growing up. I would literally fight anyone who dared even thought of hurting him but he would be the first to say that he was okay and it was not worth it. That's the kind of person Scott was. His heart was so full that sometimes tugging at the right soft spot could have him bleeding out on a rest stop bathroom floor.

"I was wrong to make you think it was your fault. You did everything you could so you have to stop this okay…You have to stop blaming yourself." I pressed making him look over at me baffled.

"W-Why? I let you down…I let Derek die." I felt a sour taste rising in the back of my throat trying to spit the words out.

"Because…if…if Derek is really gone then I'm going to need you okay? I'm just…I can't lose you too." My voice broke like a child begging not to be left in the dark and ultimately that's what it felt like. I couldn't afford to lose anyone else. My heart was too fragile at this point. I was afraid of what would become of me if I had to deal with another hit like losing Derek.

"I know I've been horrible to you for months and I know I don't deserve it but-"

"We're family always Maggie. I love you. I'm not going anywhere. I made you that promise, I plan on keeping it." I had to laugh away some tears before leaning my forehead to rest on his one more, happily feeling his breath against my face this time and feeling like a piece of me was starting to mend. I leaned back on his legs and he looked down at his side.

"Did you do that?" He asked but I shook my head.

"No that was all Allison, warrior queen and hell of a seamstress apparently." I looked back at her and she beamed with reprieve.

"Nice." Scott commended Allison and she twisted his clean shirt in her hands.

"We should probably get you up. Think you can stand?" I asked seeing him smirk weakly.

"Not with you sitting on my legs." Scott said making my eyebrows go up.

"Okay smartass on your feet." Allison moved towards us and helped me pull him carefully from the floor. He let out a groan as she pulled on the neck of the shirt to make it wide enough to go over his head. I wet the only clean sleeve of his bloody shirt and patted the wound so it wouldn't stain the new one.

"I must have been out for a while if you had enough time to get here." Allison glanced over at me like she wasn't sure I was going to explain myself or if she needed to help me cover.

"Yeah well how about you don't scare me like that again and I won't have to bend the natural order of things. I'd punch you if you weren't all Frankensteined out with those stitches." I decided brush it off until it was absolutely necessary. Allison pulled her sweater back on before looping the bag over her shoulder and moving under Scott's arm to help carry his weight. Scott pulled on my arm and tucked me under his weak side, looking as though he wanted to make a joke about how short I was but winced at the tugging pain of the stitches. We walked out to see that the Coach was trying to herd people onto the bus but was meeting some resistance. Lydia ran up taking the bag off of Allison's shoulder.

"Hey are you alright?" She looked at Scott with concern but he gave her a nod.

"Where's Stiles?" Scott's first question was usually about Stiles. I scanned the crowd and could pick out his voice being cut off by the Coach who told him that the next word out of his mouth would result in a month of wind sprints. Stiles hated running so I had no doubts that he would back off.

"He's trying to stall Coach. Apparently the driver said we can't drive for very long on a flat tire so he wants to get on the road as soon as possible as if that's not dangerous." Lydia rolled her eyes keeping in pace with the three of us as we walked slowly.

"We also still don't have any gas so unless Maggie is going to be turning Gatorade into gasoline in the next few-"

"I actually don't have any access to my magic at the moment." Scott pulled back and stopped completely to look at me.

"What happened? Are you okay?" He rubbed my shoulder with delicately as I moved from his grip.

"Yeah I'm fine I just…exhausted my resources in order to get here so-" Before Scott could somehow reprimand me for using such powerful magic, Allison spoke up.

"That's okay because I'm not leaving him either way." She started moving Scott towards the bus again and he followed her steps.

"Then we have to leave the car…Allison…alright then I guess we're leaving the car." Lydia watched Allison carry Scott by herself and I shook my head.

"She's a worrier." I nudged Lydia's shoulder with my own and she shook her head.

"It's because we hang out with you guys. I swear, if my hair starts falling out I'm going to kill all of you with my bare hands." Lydia threatened making me laugh as we caught up to Stiles, Scott and Allison.

"What's going on?" Scott asked hearing that the crowd was now almost rioting outside of the bus.

"I told them what was going on with you and he snapped." Stiles explained glancing over at Scott and looking him over. I stood on my tippy toes, using Stiles shoulder as leverage to see over people.

"Hey, you're bleeding." Stiles grabbed my arm and I looked at it. It didn't hurt more than any other part of my body so I guess I just chalked it up to collateral damage. Once I saw that it was Isaac pummeling Ethan, I took off into the crowd.

"ISAAC! ISAAC!" Coach yelled as loudly as he could knowing he wouldn't be able to fight off a teenage boy of Isaac's height. Danny tried and got thrown to the ground easily. Boyd was standing back just watching him lose control as he beat Ethan to a pulp.

"This is you helping!?" I raised my voice over the crowd of teenagers that watched in horror as if this was some sort of pay per view match.

"That's enough!" I grabbed Isaac's arm before he could connect with Ethan's face again but the force caught me off guard and sent me shoulder first into the tree that Ethan was propped against. I yelped and fell back into someone's arms.

"ISAAC!" Scott's voice was so loud that even common people would describe it was a roar but it made Isaac halt instantly, bloody fist freezing in mid-air as he slowly turned and looked over at Scott who was fuming. All anyone could hear was the hushed whispers of everyone trying to figure out just how Scott got Isaac to stop his attack and Danny shuffling over to help Ethan. The arms that had a hold of me, pulled me back until I was able to turn into their chest to see it was Stiles.

"Everyone on the damn bus, NOW! Lahey, get your ass over here." I'd never heard Coach yell and actually sound seriously angry up until this point. Isaac shamefully trudged over to the front of the bus to be scolded as Scott turned to look at me.

"Did he hurt you? Are you okay?" I rubbed my shoulder and moved it around a few times before shaking my head as Boyd walked towards us.

"I'll live." I cut my eyes at him and pushed past him to get on the bus with everyone else. Before I could get on the bus, Danny pulled on my decent arm and off to the side.

"What the hell was all that about?! What's Isaac's problem?" Danny was pissed.

"It's a long story and I don't really want to get into it right now." I held my busted arm with my arm that Danny had released and he threw his hands out.

"He could have seriously hurt him Maggie! Do you even care? I know you don't like the Ethan and Aiden but since when are you supporting the bullies?" Danny's accusation made my body tense.

"Maybe you should keep your mouth shut before you go spouting off about things you have no clue about. You want to get caught up on his face, that's up to you but you don't know anything about him Danny. Don't be so damn stupid." I spat trying to walk past him once more but he stopped me again. This time I put my hand on his chest and shoved him back into the side of the bus. He looked down at me with hurt and disenchantment before putting his hands up in surrender.

I stomped onto the bus and slumped down into an empty seat. I looked out the window trying to hold back tears when I checked my phone and still heard nothing from Cora on if she'd heard anything about Derek yet. The longer we waited, the more I just wanted to break down but I knew I couldn't. I had to be strong because the moment I lost control, the moment I showed weakness, that's when people I loved got hurt. I couldn't let that happen.

**[Stiles POV]**

Everyone got onto the bus and instantaneously started gossiping about the big fight. Coach made Isaac sit up front with him and after he grabbed his bag from where Maggie was now sitting and obviously ignoring him, Boyd moved up in his seat too. Danny kept throwing her glares but she didn't seem to notice or care. She kept her eyes out the window and glancing down at her lap where I assumed she had her phone checking for news about Derek. I knew what coming here meant for Maggie. She had to give up any hope of finding Derek alive in order to save Scott and I couldn't imagine how hard that was for her.

"Let's go over this one more time. It's the sacrifices, everything has to do with them and someone who thinks he's like a dark Druid of some kind." Lydia and I were trying to figure things out while everyone else seemed to be taking a time out to breathe but all this thinking was giving me a burning stress headache.

"Or actually is a dark Druid." She pointed out.

"A Darach. This is all so freaking bizarre. I keep thinking, how crazy can this town get but it's like I'm only jinxing the hell out of us." I shook my head trying to relieve some of the tension that was building.

"You know in some ancient cultures they sacrifice people in preparation for battle. If the Alpha pack wants Derek and Maggie, what if the Darach wants to make a better counter offer?" Lydia brought up a good point. The last thing we needed was there to be an epic battle royal over Maggie and Derek, particularly if that meant more people were going to die for it.

I was starting to think the Hale guilt complex was a blood thing because Maggie never used to be the first person in the room to raise her hand to take the blame but after just a year she would take the hit for global warming if she could.

"So we've got alpha werewolves against a dark Druid." I rubbed my chin trying to imagine what that big boss match would look like and how many of us would be collateral damage.

"Yeah." Lydia clicked her jaw as she kept her eyes forward probably thinking the same thing I was thinking, that we were totally screwed.

"You know you should go talk to her. I'm sure she could really use a friend right now." My eyes snapped away from Maggie over to Lydia.

"Is that a feeling she's giving you?" I teased making her roll her eyes.

"Listen, I know you're still pretty bitter about her taking off on you this summer but you should probably know that making that decision was tough on her. She wasn't out tanning and making out with hot strangers. She was going through hell." Lydia explained.

"That's all everyone keeps telling me and I completely get that. I just wish she would trust me sometimes. I know I'm like the token human but I'm not weak. I've been equipped to handle all this shit so far." I said almost too defensively.

"Have you ever considered maybe it's not about you being weak but her being undeserving?" I cocked my eyebrow at Lydia and she turned a bit to explain.

"Maggie and I kept in touch but when things started to take a rough turn she asked me to do something for her." Lydia dug through her purse and pulled out a crumpled envelope that had my name scratched across it.

"She told me that if something happened to her, I would feel it. I'm not sure if it's because of our connection or for some other reason but she specially said that I would feel it and I would know to give you this letter." She held onto the letter and I suddenly felt claustrophobic. All the things that could be in that letter made me uneasy.

"I've been holding onto it hoping that I wouldn't ever have to give it to you. That she would work out all the crap that she piles up in her head but with the way things seem to be going, I'd rather you read it now while there is still time to do something about it." Lydia put the letter in my hands and I just stared at it.

"Maggie might think she is the cause of all these problems like she's the monster in the story books that destroys everyone's lives but she's not. She deserves happiness too. You are her happiness." Lydia rifled through her bag again and pulled out a first aid kit.

"What are you? Mary Poppins or something?" I teased as she hit me in the chest with the box and faked a closed mouth grin.

I got up and walked carefully up the row of seats tossing Danny a look as he continued to dab blood off of Ethan's face. Coach was still too busy to notice me moving seats while talking on the phone so I had enough time to slide into the seat next to Maggie who jerked in the seat surprised.

"How's the shoulder?" I asked as she moved her hand up to graze it.

"It's fine. Just healing slowly." She brushed it off and I moved her sleeve up to see that the gash was still bleeding. I opened the kit in my lap and she snorted a laugh.

"Stiles, I told you it will heal. You don't have to worry about it." I continued to pull out a disinfectant wipe and a band aid big enough to cover the entire gash.

"You tell me a lot of things. I listen about 75% of the time. Besides it keeps up appearances if we clean it up right?" Maggie looked at me like she wasn't buying it but I wiped the blood away anyway. She didn't flinch at all as I applied a little pressure but I noticed her clench her phone in her hand. Something that Maggie had next leveled in was her insane displeasure of ever being seen in a state of weakness. As if I would judge her from flinching at the burn of disinfectant. Seeing needles made me faint for crying out loud.

"How's Scott doing?" She asked turning her head to look back out the window.

"He's better. Allison's keeping him company so I guess the whole near death experience thing has brought them closer together." I joked morosely.

"It's been known to happen." She shrugged. I didn't want to tell her about the letter that Lydia had given me without reading it first. I didn't want her to take it from me without knowing what she would have wanted me to know if she hadn't have come back. Sometimes people say things they wouldn't typically say when they're in situations like that are life or death.

I finally got her arm to stop bleeding long enough for me to pull out some ointment that I knew we didn't need but I figured it would buy me some time.

"Heard anything from Cora yet?" Her chin fell slowly to look down at her phone.

"He was alive when I left. I latched onto some blood at the bank and he actually was able to crawl out of there if you can believe it." Maggie looked over at me with full control over the tears that begged to spill from her eyes.

"I can believe that actually. You Hale's have an insane recovery kickback rate. I'm sure he's going to-"

"Don't." I stopped what I was doing and looked up at her to see she held a pained frown. I didn't know if I was hurting or not.

"Don't what?" I asked confused as to what she was referring to.

"Don't tell me that he might be alright. I can't hear that from you, okay? Tons of people tell me things like that all the time and I never put any sort of weight to it but coming from you…just don't give me that kind of hope. My track record with bad things having a good outcome is nonexistent so please just don't get my hopes up." She begged pitifully. I wanted to wrap my arms around her and hug the life out of her but I knew I couldn't do that. I put the disinfectant wipes down and I reached over to touch her hand.

"Maggie, listen to me. Derek is strong. I have never seen him fight as hard as he fights unless it's to get back to you. He wouldn't give up without that fight. You're still here and you still need him, I can see that. He knows that too. Derek is going to be fine." Maggie's lip trembled slightly and she flipped her hand over to squeeze mine. She scooted down in the seat a bit and brought her face dangerously close to mine. For a second I thought she might kiss me for trying to instill some hope in her but instead she looked fearful.

"All summer Derek pushed that I reach out to you and Scott, said I needed you in my life so I don't drown in all this shit but you have to understand. I'd rather drown alone than take you down with me. If I show them that I need you, that I care…they'll use it against me." Maggie gripped my hand like she felt she needed to explain all of this in a split second but then I remembered that one of the enemies was actually on the bus with us. I leaned in closer to her and started crinkling the band aid wrapper in my hand to somehow distract anyone from listening to us.

"When you sacrifice yourself in order to save others, they pretty much can guess who matters to you, Mags. If they came here looking for you specifically then something tells me they did their homework. The only thing putting distance between all of us does is make us weaker as a pack. Whether you want to admit it or not, that's what we are. One giant, dysfunctional, irrational pack." I pulled back to smile at her and place the band aid over her gash before shoving all the trash into my pocket until we reached a place for me to dump it.

"We aren't going anywhere." I put my now empty hand on top of hers. She looked down at it and sandwiched my hand between hers.

"STILINSKI! Back to your seat. Don't test me. I feel like my neck vein is gonna pop at any minute." Coach yelled making us both look up at him. Maggie let go of my hand and I slid out of the seat but looked down at her as she rubbed her hands together in her lap.

"Let me know when you hear from Cora okay?" She looked up at me and I saw a faint hint of a smile on the corner of her lips before she nodded at me. I walked back to my seat and sat down next to Lydia who was reading a text book. Scott had his head resting against the window while Allison watched him rest easier than what he was earlier. The sun was starting to go down now and despite things having calmed significantly now that Scott was in a better place and all seemed tranquil, I couldn't help but feel like Scott almost bleeding out in the bathroom was just the beginning.


	10. The Kids Aren't Alright

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Authors Note: So this is a cliffhanger chapter everyone. I'm sorry to have to do this to you but I'm trying to start staying under 10K with chapter length so I don't get carried away plus since it's Motel California, I figured I'd break up all the happiness. This will be one of my first chapters with triggerwarnings. I'll be sure to say which are below and where to skip over if you need to. Thanks again for reading the story, you all are lovely people and I enjoy your faces!
> 
> ~!TRIGGERWARNINGS~!
> 
> Abuse warning in Isaac's POV/Talks of Suicide & Self Harm warning in Stiles POV & Boyd's POV. I'll totally understand if you need to skip these next two chapters considering this is Motel California PRT1

**[Scott's POV]**

The bus grew quiet as the sun started to set. Coach had announced that we were going to have to pull into a motel for the night which made me a bit anxious. The smells alone would probably drive me crazy but I was already feeling better physically. Allison had kept stealing glances at me and I wasn't sure if it was because I almost died in front of her or because of something else. She just smiled whenever I caught her staring and blushed. It's the closest we've been since she's come home. It was nice to have her next to me again.

"What are you thinking about?" Allison leaned her head back next to mine.

"Just how bad I let myself get. I shouldn't have worried you all so much. I'm sorry." I rolled my head to the side and she frowned.

"Well we care about you. We're always going to worry." I couldn't fight the smile that pulled across my lips hearing her say that. Sometimes I thought she hated being around me and even if she just wanted to stay friends, I'd hate for her to suddenly not want to be near me.

"You kept your cool under pressure though. The stitches turned out pretty nice. I'm almost sad that they're popping out." I patted my side lightly now that the wound was healing over and pushing the stitches out.

"I was actually on the verge of losing it when Maggie showed up. You had stopped breathing and I thought that was it, we were too late and we'd lost you but Maggie came running in just in time." Allison let out a sigh and I bit my lip.

"I knew how special you and Maggie's relationship was when I first saw you two together but seeing you like that…her begging with all she had for you to come back to her…she knows it's not your fault. Everything that happened with Derek…she needs you Scott. Don't ever think otherwise." I looked up ahead at the back of Maggie's head just barely peeking out behind the seat as she leaned against the window. She had asked to sit alone after Stiles had patched her up and I hadn't really gotten a chance to thank her for coming all this way to snap me out of it.

"I don't know why life always tries to tear us apart. When we were kids, when Peter killed her, when she went away for the summer…I just wish for once we could exist without the world trying to tear us apart." I explained sadly.

"The bond that you two have can't be torn apart. That's why the world is constantly testing you both. There are so many different types of love. Yours doesn't know time or distance or even misfortune. It only knows that there are certain hearts that it will never stop loving no matter what tries to come between them." Allison's words made my heart feel warm. It made me think about just how much I cared about her and Maggie, in two totally different ways but the feelings I have had always been strong.

"What you have is special." She put her hand on top of mine and I tensed just slightly before letting my body relax to her touch. I gave her a nod letting her know that I appreciated the comfort but I turned my attention back up to Maggie and moved out of the seat slowly to go sit up next to her. She didn't jump like she had when Stiles sat down with her earlier but she did let out a heavy sigh like my presence annoyed her.

"You're blowing it McCall." She breathed not even looking over at me at first but rolling her entire head, lying back against the seat to see the confusion on my face.

"You two were bonding back there. That's a big step from being the awkward mess you two were before." I blushed knowing that Maggie was apparently eavesdropping on Allison and me.

"You could have come back there to sit with us if you were going to listen-"

"I've been monitoring your heartbeat. I wasn't listening to your conversation, I just knew you two were talking and you seemed to be pleased about it." Maggie clarified.

"Why are you monitoring my heartbeat? I told you I was doing better." I pressed but she stared at me suspiciously.

"Color me a bit overprotected. I plan on keeping you in my sight as long as I can until I get my magic back to heal you properly." The bus pulled onto the lot of a motel and everyone got up slowly. We were all pretty drained from the bus ride but something in my chest kept me on edge. I couldn't pinpoint the feeling exactly but something about it felt familiar. Like the aftermath of an asthma attack or something.

The sign out front glowed Motel Glen Capri in neon letters. The place itself looked a bit worse for wear but it was only for a night. How bad could it really be?

"I've seen worse." Stiles' mouth was pulled into a disbelieving grimace as he stared at the motel set up in disgust.

"Where? Where have you seen worse?" He countered as I felt Maggie brush against my left arm.

"Fan of Bate's Motel, are we?" She raised her eyebrow making Stiles and I both look at her.

"It smells...weird." I cringed trying to block out all the peculiar smells that hit me in the face the moment I stepped off the bus.

"I was going to suggest breathing through your mouth but you don't even want to know what I just tasted in the air." Maggie stuck her tongue out and shook her body like she got a chill of revulsion.

"Oh that's gross." Stiles mimicked Maggie's body movement equally nauseated by what she'd just said. We were interrupted by Coach's whistle.

"Listen up, the meet's been pushed til tomorrow. This is the closest motel with the most vacancies and least amount of good judgement when it comes to letting a bunch of degenerates like yourselves stay." Coach held up a handful of room keys.

"You'll be pairing up. Choose wisely." I stepped up and grabbed a key for Stiles and I but Maggie had disappeared.

"They've got to pay for their own room probably. They'll be fine man, let's go see how horrible our room is." Stiles hit my arm and jerked his thumb up the steps towards our room for the night. I figured since the three of them had pretty much just saved my life that they'd be fine on their own to get checked in. I don't think I've ever known three girls as capable of handling themselves like Allison, Lydia and Maggie.

I put the key in the door and pushed it open to survey the room carefully.

"It's not so bad." Stiles looked over at me like I was crazy.

"I've literally seen porn backdrops with this exact layout." He gestured to the mustard color bed sheets.

"Well that's an overshare." Stiles jumped when Maggie spoke up from behind us. I must have been too wrapped up in taking in the room to even hear her come up the stairs.

"Just because you're small doesn't mean you should sneak up on people." Stiles blushed as he tossed his bag down.

"Just because you have terrible taste in porn doesn't mean you should share it." She sniped back pushing past him to plop down in the open chair.

"You get your room worked out?" I asked before Stiles could say anything else to make the situation more awkward.

"Yeah Allison and Lydia don't mind sharing with me." She seemed tense as pulled her knees to her chest and got comfortable.

"You could have bunked with us. All three of us have shared a bed before." Maggie looked down at the floor and Stiles cleared his throat uneasy.

"The last time I was sandwiched between you two we were still kids. Not really the same thing Scotty." Maggie bit her bottom lip and I knew that it was more about Stiles than me but something told me she was going to be hanging around no matter what.

"Not that I don't enjoy your company but why are you over here if you're rooming with Allison and Lydia?" Stiles opened his bag and pulled out his toothbrush.

"Lydia is creeped out to the core for some reason so I figured I'd give her some space and I'm too annoyed at Isaac and Boyd to hang out with them so I figured I'd keep an eye on Scott." I sat down on the bed in front of her.

"I told you that you don't have to worry. I'm fine." I tried to ease her nerves but she looked anxious.

"I know and I can smell that you're healing but I guess Lydia's bad vibes are rubbing off on me so deal with my presence okay?" She pressed hugging her legs tighter. Stiles laughed and sat down on the bed.

"We'll find a way to put up with you." He said playfully making her hide her smile. I knew how weird things were with Allison and me but Stiles and Maggie were like a soap opera. One day I was on the edge of my seat waiting for them to start making out and the next it was like they'd never met. It gave me whiplash to watch them go back and forth.

"However if you're sticking around then you have to deal with the topic of conversation which is the Darach. We need to talk suspects." Stiles leaned back on the bed and I did the same.

"Alright I have four." I whipped my head towards him.

"Four? How did you get four suspects?" I questioned baffled.

"It was originally ten-"

"Naturally." Maggie sighed because it was Stiles.

"Technically it was nine but I had Derek on there twice." Stiles cleared his throat uncomfortably admitted that Derek somehow always managed to be a suspect in his book even though he was dead.

"Naturally." Maggie repeated because again, it was Stiles.

"So who was number one? Harris?" I quickly tried to move the conversation along so Maggie wouldn't get offended.

"Just because he's missing doesn't mean he's dead." Stiles replied firm in his stance.

"Same could be said for Derek then so it looks like your list went back up." Maggie spoke up like she wasn't really invested in the conversation but took the time to add commentary.

"So if he's not dead, our chemistry teacher is out secretly committing human sacrifices." I said it slowly so that we could focus on how unrealistic it was for Harris to be the one killing people.

"Yeah I guess it sounded better in my head." Stiles looked as though he mentally scratched Harris off the list but I felt like he was on the right track.

"It could still be someone else from school. I mean remember Matt? We didn't know he was killing people." I looked over at him and he stood up abruptly.

"Excuse me? I'm sorry what? I- yes we did, I called that from day one actually." Maggie was pinching the bridge of her nose and shaking her head like I had just unknowingly opened a can of worms.

"Yeah but we never really seriously thought that it was Matt." I sat up on my elbows as he tossed his arms around.

"I was serious. I was quite serious about it actually. Deadly serious. Maggie back me up on this." Stiles looked over at Maggie but she was staring down at her phone, typing on it like she was starting to get frustrated with whoever wasn't responding. My guess was Cora considering she'd been clutching her phone since we got on the bus at the rest stop.

"He did in fact make his creepy vibes known quite frequently." Maggie encouraged Stiles but I was trying to focus on the sounds of arguing in the next room without startling Maggie.

"Who were the others?" I asked but Stiles let out a huff.

"Really? You're going to try and evade me now? As if that's even possible. Admit it McCall, my hunches have been pretty on point this far in the whole _things that want to kill us_ game." Stiles pressed.

"He's not listening to you anymore. He's listening to Isaac and Boyd." I looked over at Maggie to confirm that she was in fact listening to them too. I could feel her anxiety wafting off of her in waves.

"I know I'm not their alpha but maybe I should go talk to them. We don't need Isaac getting in anymore trouble and Coach probably is just waiting to find someone to take out all his frustrations on." I offered and Maggie just shook her head.

"It's not your responsibility, it's mine but thank you for offering." Maggie stood up and looked me over. I could tell her hesitation was because I was still healing but she couldn't hover over me if she was taking care of what I guess would be her betas now.

"Go check on the werepups. I'll keep an eye on him and promise to scream bloody murder if he starts to look green." Stiles gestured to the door and Maggie kept eyeing it before looking back at me.

"Maggie, I'm not going anywhere. I promise. Now go check on Isaac and Boyd." I couldn't help but laugh at how torn she seemed to be. I loved that about Maggie. Despite her being pissed at the others, she always cared.

"I'll be back in a bit. Don't do too much moving around until those stitches pop out completely." She cradled her phone in her hands as she moved towards the door giving us both once over glances before fleeing quickly.

"She's been trying to get a hold of Cora. Do you think maybe we should try-" Stiles cut me off checking his own phone as it lay carelessly on the bed.

"I've been texting her and Nathan since we left Beacon Hills. I even texted Peter which got me a quick wrong number reply but I know it's his." Stiles explained. I was shocked he went that far considering how he feels about Peter but I knew I shouldn't be. He would chew glass at this point if it would help Maggie.

"Should we wait for her to come back to keep talking suspects?" I asked but he sucked his bottom lip into his mouth.

"Probably not since my next suspect is Cora." I looked over at him confused.

"Why Cora? She seems to be on better terms with Maggie and has actually helped watch her back since Derek..." I rolled to one side and balanced on my elbow trying to focus on the movement rather than not being able to keep bringing attention to the fact that Derek was gone.

"No one knows anything about her, where she was all these years or how exactly she heard that Derek was the alpha. Plus most Hale's usually hang out on the suspect list and before you give me that look, I'm aware of what Maggie is and I felt guilty even considering it so let's just move onto the next suspect which is your boss." I sat up completely this time.

"My boss?" It sounded more defensive then what I had intended.

"Yeah your boss. I don't like the whole Obi Wan thing he's got going on, it freaks me out. Plus Derek had Maggie being trained by the guy and he still was out of the loop on things which reflects poorly on Derek as a guardian but makes Deaton look even more suspicious." I looked at Stiles like I agreed with him mostly because I didn't want to get yelled at about Star Wars again. He paused when I had no rebuttal.

"Oh my God have you still not seen Star Wars?" I was busted.

"I swear if we make it back alive I will watch the movie." I promised with a laugh.

"It just…it makes me crazy. Come on man." Stiles wiped at his face.. His obsession with the Star Wars saga was one of the nerdiest things about him but I never knew what he was talking about whenever he made references. Honestly I should have watched it by now just to know half of the thing he says like when he once said I look like a demented Ewok whenever I wolfed out. I didn't know if that was a good or bad thing.

"Who's the last suspect on your list?" I moved on and Stiles looked towards the door a bit more pained about the person he was about to say.

"Lydia." He moved back to the bed and sat down. It was the last name I expected to end up on his suspect list to be honest. Even over Maggie's name.

"She was completely controlled by Peter and had no idea. Not to mention she has this strong connection to Maggie and if she can somehow tap into Maggie's abilities like she was earlier then we might be in way over our heads." Stiles let out a heavy sigh before rolling onto his back, relaxing into the semi comfortable bed.

I got up and walked into the bathroom to have a few moments to myself to process the list of suspects. I honestly didn't want anyone on that list to be involved with the sacrifices. I looked myself over in the mirror and felt completely out of it. I didn't know if it was because of blood loss or what but I felt weak. I lifted my shirt to see that my stitches had fallen out completely but the skin was still healing. I'll have to remember to thank Allison again for basically saving my life. It was nice to know she still cared about me to not want me dead. I know some people break up in the lunch room and actually hear them mumble that they wished they would drop dead. As far as teen romance, I wasn't doing too badly. The lights from the mirror made my eyes flash for a moment and that's when I saw it. I stretched over the sink to take a closer look. I pulled the skin under my eye down, feeling oddly tired and dazed until my eye started to glow crimson.

"Yo Scotty! As I'm sure it wouldn't be the first time someone pissed out here, I'd prefer to do it in there." Stiles knocked on the door startling me. I opened the door and let him push past me and shut the door so he could do his business.

"Hey thanks again for making that awkward spooning offer to Maggie earlier. As if things weren't already weird enough." Stiles as he shouted from behind the door. I was saved from answering when my phone started ringing and my mom's name popped up on the screen.

"Hey Mom, what's up?" I answered thankfully but received no response.

"Mom?" I said her name again hearing breathing over the line.

"Scott..." The way she said my name instantly made me tense. She was upset, distressed for some reason.

"Mom what's wrong?" I asked worried.

"I-I'm sorry, he just came in the house. I tried to stop him. I'm sorry." She was crying. She would never call me crying if things weren't really bad.

"Who, Mom? Where are you?" I looked around the room as if there would be something in here that could help me get to her as soon as I could. I knew Maggie was operating on no magic so I couldn't bank on her.

"Outside. Look outside." I looked over my shoulder at the window and ran over to it. Mom was standing in the parking lot being held hostage by Deucalion who had his clawed hand wrapped loosely around her throat as he body shook with fear.

"Scott…can you hear me?" Deucalion asked assuredly knowing he had me at his mercy.

"What do you want?" I kept my eyes on his hand, terrified of him moving too much and hurting my mom.

"Isn't it obvious? You're an alpha now Scott." I thought back to the glowing in my eyes and freaked.

"I'm not! I'm not! Derek- Derek could still be alive. He could-"

"He's dead. You know he is. Why do you think Maggie gave up and ran to you? She's actually made this quite easy for me." I couldn't think as far ahead as I needed. All I could comprehend was that Derek was dead and Deucalion had my mom.

"Made what easy?" I questioned carefully.

"Coming after you. You and everyone you love." His eyes narrowed and his tone changed.

"I'm coming for all of them." He growled before running his claws over Mom's throat making me jump in shock as she gripped her wound and fell to her knees, blood pouring from through her fingers. I felt paralyzed. I felt my heart beating so hard in my chest I was afraid it would explode.

"Scott? You okay?" Hearing Stiles voice made me turn around. He looked at me strangely as I stared down at my phone. Looking back to the window, both Deucalion and my mom were nowhere to be seen.

"It wasn't real…it wasn't." I muttered to myself unable to function enough to answer Stiles. The only times I've ever been so shell-shocked have been when I was first bitten that night in the woods and when Maggie died. The thought that I was all the way out here and my mom was all the way back home where Deucalion was stalking around now made me feel incredibly terrified. I knew I needed to calm down, find my anchor and focus but it was hard. Allison had been my anchor since I was turned but now that we weren't together, I felt lost.

Stiles muttered something about carb loading before sprinting for the door but I just ignored him. The only thing I needed right now was my anchor. I needed Allison.

**[Isaac's POV]**

Boyd had been pacing since we walked into the poorly decorated room. Maggie's icy glare and disappointment had really gotten to him despite me being the one was pummeling Ethan. I didn't feel bad about beating him up. He had it coming. I didn't understand how Maggie could be so self-righteous considering all the things she's done to protect the pack. Boyd had shoulder checked me for the second time since entering the room and I just laughed.

"You don't have to pretend to be so disapproving you know? She's not here to see the little dance you're doing so the whole body checking is just wasteful." Boyd turned around quickly.

"You're stupid, you know that? Derek's been out of the picture for a few days and you're already McCall's little lap dog." Boyd seethed in disgust.

"Because you didn't follow Derek around like a little bitch." I challenged earning a hard shove this time. Just as I shoved him back, the door opened and Maggie let out a groan.

"What? Ethan wasn't enough of a challenge? Now you want to rile him up too?" She shut the door behind herself and I rolled my eyes at the shitty timing.

"Trust me, he doesn't need me to be riled up. He was trained that way." I sniped at him and Boyd growled.

"Cut the shit. I'm so freaking tired of you two acting like children. Grow the hell up." Maggie looked between us and Boyd sat down on his bed like a good little boy.

"Really? You back down so easily now that she's actually standing here? Wow, Derek trained you well." I spat making Boyd jump to his feet so quickly I barely had time to brace myself as he knocked me back into a lamp, sending it and me crashing to the floor.

"BOYD! STOP!" Maggie grabbed his arm and pulled him back long enough for me to get back on my feet and grab the front of his shirt.

"ISAAC! BACK OFF DAMMIT!" Maggie continued to yell at the both of us as I slammed Boyd into the wall making the drywall crack from the force. Maggie tried to squeeze herself between our bodies but when Boyd shoved me backwards, I tripped over the lamp that had already been knocked over and cut my hand on some of the pieces. Maggie stood in front of Boyd putting her hand on his chest and pushing him back into the wall looking like a child trying to stop a mountain.

"Boyd please! Just take a walk, cool down. Please." She pleaded making me laugh. Boyd took heavy breaths through his nose before storming out of the room and slamming the door behind himself. Maggie looked at me like she couldn't figure me out.

"What's the matter with you? Why are you acting like a complete jackass?" She threw her arms out as I looked at the blood on my hand waiting for it to heal.

"I'm not in the mood to be lectured, especially by you." I pushed past her to grab the remote and she snatched it from my hand.

"Clearly someone has to talk some sense into you because you obviously took one too many blows to the head in that last brawl. You're aware that Boyd could probably snap you in half right?" She pressed.

"And upset you? I doubt that." I tried to yank the remote away from her but she pulled back.

"Seriously, what's going on with you? Why are you acting like this? You've never been this aggressive before and you'd never try to push Boyd into a fight. What's gotten into you?" Maggie made the face. The one where she was trying to mother me or guilt me into feeling some sort of shame for reacting or feeling a certain way. I hated that face.

"Give me the remote, Maggie." I clenched my jaw hard but she remained unmoved.

"Is this about Derek? You know there was nothing you could have done to prevent that." The more she talked, the more I could feel my entire body burning with rage.

"Nothing's wrong with me and I don't need to talk about it. I just need you to give me the remote and leave me alone." I kept my eyes on the black screen and Maggie squatted in front of me.

"Something's obviously wrong or else you wouldn't have tried to beat Ethan to death in front of the entire track team. No matter what was happening to Scott, you can't just go off like that. You know better, especially with the way your dad-." I stood up so abruptly that Maggie took a step back.

"I know better? News flash Maggie, you aren't my mother. Last I checked she was dead. Just like Derek, just like Scott almost was and just like Laci." The name made Maggie freeze where she stood, gripping the remote tightly as I took a step towards her.

"You remember her don't you? You tore her to pieces and even when she was dead beyond a doubt, you still tore through her like some blood thirsty psycho and you have the nerve to talk down to me for beating up a guy who killed two members of our pack!?" I stared down at Maggie feeling powerful. Something inside of me had snapped and all I wanted was to show that I didn't need anyone trying to control me. I was in control.

"Face it Maggie, I'm not the one everyone should be worried about. You're the real killer here." I seethed as she swallowed the hard truth.

I made a move to grab her wrist and snatch the remote away but she swung me into the wall hard creating a hole where my body had struck it. I slid down to the floor feeling dazed like something in my brain snapped. I shook my head like I was waking from some sort of fog. Maggie had crouched to the floor, curled into herself and glaring at me. I had really just said those things to her. It was like something took over inside my brain and blurted out the most hateful things it could come up with and now I was staring at the face of someone who looked ready to set me on fire.

"Maggie I didn't mean-" I reached out and grazed her hand only to have her pull away violently.

"Don't…touch me." She held herself secure and I put my hand to my forehead feeling a cold sweat dripping out of my hairline.

"I don't know what's wrong with me right now. I don't feel right. I feel out of control." I leaned my head back against the wall smelling the broken drywell on my shoulders and burning my nose hairs with the dust.

"Maybe that's my fault too. Maybe being around me this summer as I was going off the rails like a blood thirsty psycho has made you think it's okay to just lose control whenever you want." Maggie made eye contact with me and I trembled. The last thing I ever wanted to do was make one of her worst fears an existing reality.

"Maggie please. I didn't mean that. You aren't a blood thirsty psycho. You saved my life." I pressed but she just held her glare as she go to her feet. I had an overwhelming feeling that Maggie was going to walk out of the door and never speak to me again and that scared the hell out of me.

"Maybe I should just go and give you some space. You don't need me. You can handle all this on your own." She turned the TV on and walked towards the door as I scrambled on the floor to reach out to her again.

"NO! NO that's not what I want at all. Please Maggie! I'm sorry!" I pleaded with her, praying she would hear me out but she just turned to look at me carefully, eyes glazed over with zero feeling.

"Don't leave this room Isaac or you will see an animal." She threatened before shutting the door. I put my head in my hands trying not to let myself go into a full blown panic attack as I rocked back and forth.

"Please don't leave me…you're the only family I've got..." No one was there to listen. No one was around to comfort me or hear me out. I'd screwed everything up and now I had no one.

I moved around the room carefully after that, picking the overturned lamp up off the floor and sitting it upright only to have flicker out leaving the room dark. I dejectedly climbed onto the bed and closed my eyes, unable to keep them open to look around the room that was now a wreck from the altercation with both Boyd and Maggie.

I had really screwed up and now Maggie wanted nothing to do with me. I tried to keep my breathing steady again to avoid a panic attack and the sounds of the ceiling fan made me open my eyes. It sounded like someone was moving around in the rooms next door or banging on the walls.

"Maggie?" I called out hopeful. She'd probably already told the others to stay away from me by now and that made my chest tighten. The more I listened to the movement around me, the more I seemed to recognize it.

" _Oh hell son, you broke it. You break everything. How much of a moron are you?_ " I could hear my dad's voice echoing off the walls of the dark motel room and I sat up on the end of the bed quickly.

"I…I'm sorry. I didn't mean to." I responded feeling my eyes well up with remorseful tears.

" _You didn't mean to? You didn't mean to? You think that changes things? You think that makes up for you being a complete failure_?" I shook my head and hit myself in the temple trying to shake the voice out.

"I'm trying…I didn't mean to hurt her-" The sounds of his mocking laugh rang in my ears and I bit my lip.

" _The only girl that's ever cared to look you over twice and you practically spit in her face. You're a disgrace. Whatever family you thought you had, you shattered it_." I felt frantic.

"I can fix it. I can fix it!" I kept repeating aloud, feeling my entire body shake.

" _You've done enough. You can't fix anything. You're a stupid, ungrateful bastard who no one wants around_." He spat.

"I can't fix this…I can't fix this now…I CAN'T FIX THIS NOW!" I gripped either side of my head trying to keep my feet on the ground but then I heard the sound of chains being kicked.

" _You know where you belong, now grab the chains._ " My blood went cold.

"W-what?" I felt the lump in my throat growing as the sound of the chains rustling on a concrete floor made me cringe.

" _You heard what I said. Grab the chains and get in the freezer. NOW!"_ The shout made me jump back on the bed as far as I could before covering my head with a pillow to block it out. It wasn't real. It couldn't be real. He was dead and I was alone. It wasn't real. I opened my eyes slowly, turning over on what I thought was the mattress but suddenly I felt the cold walls of the freezer bumping against my elbows. I was back in the box, unable to move, unable to get out or save myself. I let out a scream of torment knowing that no matter whose name I called out for help, I wouldn't receive any. I was alone. I had broken everything and I couldn't fix it.

**[Stiles POV]**

I don't know if it was because we almost lost Scott at a rest stop bathroom or if it was because we were stranded at this creepy ass motel in the middle of the desert but everyone seemed to be acting bizarrely. The only simple win was that Maggie was actually talking to me which was a relief. After spending so much time playing the hot and cold game with me, it felt like she was really starting to let me back in. All I wanted was for her to open up to me and let me be there for her without any reservations but I knew Maggie and I knew how difficult that was for her.

I saw Boyd staring at the vending machine downstairs and figured Maggie was upstairs with Isaac giving him the third degree for nearly killing Ethan. I think it was a perfect time to try and build some ground work to changing the fact that we weren't really friends.

"Hey man, how's it going? Crazy day right? Thanks for not going buckwild on the bus. That would have been messy. Well messier than Isaac just doing the whole straight up beat down at the rest stop which was totally understandable by the way. The Twins are the worst." Boyd didn't even bother looking over at me as I ranted. He just continued to stare blankly at the selection before him.

"Hopefully Maggie wasn't too hard on you guys. I know things have been tense since...I just want you to know that I'm around if you need anything. I know we aren't friends but I wouldn't mind getting to know you better." Boyd still hadn't made any moves to indicate that he was even listening to me. For a second I thought he was paralyzed in place or something but then he reached out slowly and typed in the three digit code for the peanut butter crackers.

"Hey look at that. That's what I'm getting. Maybe we're more alike than either of us thought." I chuckled wanting to pat him on the back but too afraid that he might literally rip my throat out. The peanut butter crackers moved a few inches before getting stuck in the rack.

"Oh, you know what? Don't worry. I've got a patented method for this. See I've already got your back-" I barely had time to grip the top of the machine, ready to give it a good shake to free the crackers that Boyd wanted but his fist flew into the glass, shattering it and opening the machine without even blinking. His eyes looked completely void of any emotion as he reached in to jerk the snack from the machine before walking back up to his room.

Obviously I was going to take advantage of the free snacks now because I didn't break the machine and it's not like everyone else was going to put their change in the machine if they could just take it. I'm an opportunist and seriously, this place sucked anyway. The least they could do was give us complimentary snacks. I heard the sound of little feet stomping down the stairs and knew it was Maggie. She was looking down at her phone and mumbling to herself like an old man trying to figure out technology. I grabbed a bag of M&M's along with my other snacks and ran after her as she spun in circles in the parking lot looking for a signal.

"Hey, I got you some candy. Apparently your talk with Isaac and Boyd didn't go so well considering Boyd just leveled a vending machine." Maggie stopped what she was doing and looked at me.

"What?" I thumbed over towards the broken machine and she let out a sighed frustrated.

"I can't even deal with anymore right now." She tucked her hair behind her ear and strained her eyes like she couldn't see what was on the phone in front of her.

"Anything I can do to help? I mean I could try talking to Isaac. Boyd probably needs some time to cool down and I had a nightmare once that he punched an actual hole through my head so I'd be more up for talking to someone I could verbally tango with." I offered but she just shook her head, keeping her attention on her phone.

"Boyd's just been through a lot, with losing Erica and then Derek...he's just got a lot going on." She looked worn out but if there's one thing my dad's taught me is that you never tell a woman when they look tired or worn out.

"I know how he feels." I shrugged making her finally look up from her phone at me.

"I seriously doubt that." She said confused.

"How easily you forget that you died in my arms once. That kind of pain...you don't really get over it so yeah Mag's, I know how he feels." Her face relaxed as though she actually did forget that that ever happened and I wondered how that could even be possible when I still had nightmares about it.

"I mean our story isn't a tale of werewolf love but it's still a story." Maggie bit her lip and shook her head at me.

"Stiles, now is really not the time for this conversation. I have a million things going on right now-" I put my hands up.

"I know you do but you don't have to do it alone. I'm here and once I get these snacks in Scott's body, he'll be up to help out too." I smiled at her but she was clearly trying to put the wedge back between us. The moment her phone started to beep, I knew I'd lost her.

"No...no it's fine. I can handle it." She turned her back and started to walk away from me.

"Cora? Cora can you hear me?" She was shouting into her phone but the call dropped.

"DAMMIT!" She roared looking as though she'd like to spike the phone on the ground but knew she couldn't.

"Hey, what's going on? Talk to me." I pocketed the snacks and followed after her.

"I can't get anyone back home to answer. They promised me they'd keep in touch with me and no one is answering." She explained still trying to walk away from me.

"Alright let's just calm down here and think for a second. I can try calling Cora-" She spun around so quickly that I stopped in my tracks, phone in hand and ready to try Cora's phone.

"Look stop following me around and clinging to me like a freaking shadow okay? It's driving me crazy." I was pretty stunned. I wasn't picking up on the vibes that she wanted me to leave her alone this much but apparently she was sick of my company.

"I…I'm not trying to be clingy, I'm just trying to help." I finally spit my words out realizing I had been standing in a stunned silence for a few seconds longer than I should have.

"Well I don't need your help alright? I don't need your advice or your company." She put her hands up and I could feel how tense she was. Something was off.

"Maggie, just talk to me please. What's going on?" I stepped towards her trying to show her that whatever was going on, I was here and ready to help. I wasn't just going to let her keep pushing me away.

"I just want to be left alone, why is that so hard for you to understand? I don't need your help, I never need your help so back the hell off." She raised her voice and I could hear the sound of heels coming down the steps knowing instantly that Lydia was approaching us. I was already too embarrassed to fight Maggie's decision so I just swallowed the lump in my throat and nodded.

"Fine." I put my hands in my pockets and watched Maggie walk away, punching at the buttons of her phone to try and get someone to answer her.

"What the hell was that about?" Lydia stood next to me keeping her eyes on Maggie as she bounced around the lot like a crazy person.

"Every time I take two steps forward, she shoves me eighty feet back. I don't know how much more of it I can handle before I lose it." I ran my hand down my face in frustration and Lydia put her hand on my arm.

"Give her some space for now. I need you to come with me. Something weird is going on." Lydia was vague but there was nothing I could do to help Maggie at the moment so I followed Lydia up to the room where Allison paced, fingers covering her lips looking pretty shaken up.

"Hey you okay?" I asked concerned.

"No not really. Something's up." Allison kept her arms to her chest and I narrowed my gaze.

"I went to get fresh towels early to replace the gross nicotine saturated ones and found out that this motel has the highest suicide rate in the country. They actually keep a count pinned to the wall in the office." Lydia explained and I could suddenly see why there were at least two rooms with tape over the doors to be remodeled.

"Well that's morbidly unsettling but I don't understand-"

"The number went up by three in just 10 minutes." Lydia finished.

"Are you saying that three people have killed themselves in the last 10 minutes and we just aren't aware?" I was trying to catch up to whatever they were talking about but I was confused.

"I'm saying that the last thing that was in three's was a set of sacrifices." Lydia was getting frustrated that it was taking me so long to put pieces together.

"I think it's the wolves." Allison spoke up again.

"What? Why would you say that?" I stepped towards her.

"Earlier when Lydia got the towels, Scott wandered in here. I was in the shower and he was just walked right in but he was completely out of it. He started saying really strange things and the only other time he's acted so weird was on a full moon. He was fine on the bus but after half an hour in this place…something's wrong." I couldn't believe that in the time I walked downstairs to get snacks that Scott went up and totally crossed the line with Allison. I could tell she was taken aback by whatever happened between them but I knew I couldn't persist.

"He seemed pretty off earlier that's why I went downstairs to grab some snacks. Boyd was out of it too. He put his fist through the vending machine without even flinching." I remembered Boyd's face expressionless the entire time I stood inches away from him.

"What about Maggie? Is she doing okay? She only spent like 2.5 seconds in here before she said she was going to keep an eye on Scott." I felt Lydia look over at me and I felt myself blush at the reminder that she'd witnessed Maggie telling me off.

"She was fine in the room but she just kind of unloaded on me for no apparent reason. I just sort of chalked it up the oh so lovable tug of war we have going on." I put my hands on my hips but Lydia stepped towards me.

"I'm telling you, it's the motel. Either we need to get out of here right now or someone's going to need to learn how to do an exorcism before the werewolves go crazy and kill us all. I'm serious you guys. Maggie may not have her magic right now but I know she can feel what I'm feeling and what I'm feeling...it's bad." Lydia pulled a bible out of the bedside drawer and held it up which seemed a bit extreme.

"Alright let's just hold on a second. What if the number doesn't just mean 3 more sacrifices. What if it means 3 werewolves?" Allison furrowed her brow at me.

"Scott, Maggie & Boyd." She breathed.

"Maybe we were meant to come here. Whoever this druid is had to have known that Maggie would go to great lengths to get to Scott and her defenses would be down." I snapped my fingers together knowing that we were utterly screwed.

"EXACTLY! Now can we please get the hell out of here?" She pleaded desperately. I noticed a piece of paper sticking out of the bible she was holding and took it from her.

"What is that?" I scanned over the article as Allison read over my shoulder.

" _28 year old man hangs himself at the infamous Glen Capri_." I read aloud before seeing another stuck to the page underneath. There seemed to be another stuck to that as well so I turned the book over and started to shake it watching dozens of articles fall onto the bedspread. We started to sift through them.

"These are all for room 217." Lydia pointed to the number that came up in the articles.

"If every room has a bible-" Allison started.

"There could be articles in all the rooms." Lydia finished making me clap my hands together.

"That's a beautiful thing. Most places leave a mint under the pillow. This one leaves a record of all the horrible deaths that occurred." We were literally lured to a death motel by the Darach and now team human was going to have to save everyone.

"What if the room next door has the one about the couple?" Lydia asked Allison but caught my attention.

"What couple?" I asked curiously.

"I was hearing voices in the vent early. Maggie got freaked out, almost like she could hear them too. She jumped off the bed to come see you and Scott the same time the gun went off." Lydia explained. That's all I needed to hear before bolting out the door to go find her. If she was under some sort of suicide trance, I needed to find her ASAP.

"Stiles wait!" Allison called after me as Lydia tried to get into the room next to theirs.

"This door was not locked before." Lydia kept trying the handle as I scanned the parking lot. Maggie was no longer roaming around on her phone, at least not in plain sight.

"Forget the room, we need to get the others out of here before something happens." Allison said but just as they started to walk away from the door, a loud roaring noise coming from behind the locked door.

"I'm not the only one that can hear that too, am I?" Lydia froze in front of the door making me double back.

"It sounds like someone turned a handsaw on." Allison pointed out making me stumble to the front of the door.

"Handsaw? Seriously!" Not putting eyes on Maggie had me freaking out. What if she was behind the door? What if she was going to try to handsaw herself to death? All I knew was that I needed to get into the room and stop whatever was about to happen from happening.

I threw my shoulder into the door as hard as I could once, twice and a third time, it finally swung open to reveal Ethan standing in the middle of the messy room that was being remodeled, handsaw whirling like crazy and inching it towards his abdomen.

"HEY ETHAN DON'T!" I screamed over the handsaw buzzing towards his skin. I ran towards him and grabbed the handle of the saw. He wouldn't let go and I knew I wouldn't be able to wrestle anything away from an alpha werewolf but I was only hoping not to lose an arm.

He tossed me and the handsaw to the ground hard but I braced myself from running face first into it just as Lydia pulled the cord on it. I could feel how hard my heart was beating in my chest when Allison pulled me over to where she'd been pushed out of the way probably by my body when Ethan tossed me. We both gawked at Ethan waiting for his next move but he extended his claws quickly and started tearing into himself. We jumped back to our feet and grabbed at his arms to try and pull them away from his sides.

"ETHAN STOP IT!" Lydia screamed as he growled in pain, the claws slipping deeper into his flesh no matter how hard we tried to pull them away. He tossed us again but landed on the hot plate that was sitting in the middle of the room apparently on because the moment his skin collided with the heat he yelped snapping out of it.

"What just happened?" He got to his feet quickly looking us over as if we were the cause of his freak out. He didn't wait for an explanation. He just took off, grabbing at the sides of his shirt to close it as he fled.

"Wait, Ethan!" I ran after him, the girls trailing me.

"I don't know what happened but stay away from me." Ethan dismissed me.

"We have to talk about this. What were you trying to do?" I questioned.

"Didn't you hear what I just said? I don't how I got there or what I was doing." He started back towards his room and I stopped at the bottom of the steps.

"You know you could be a little more helpful considering we did just save your life." I was agitated and panicked by what had just happened and he had the nerve to act like we were the inconvenience.

"You probably shouldn't have." He turned his back and slammed the door to his room shut in our faces.

"Are you freaking kidd-" I was about to go pound on his door when Allison grabbed my arm to stop me.

"What now?" Lydia paced nervously.

"We find the others and get them out of here. The best thing we can do is get them out of this place." Allison started back up the stairs and I eyed Lydia as she started to follow. Somehow Lydia always had a way of finding death but maybe it was her finding it. Maybe it was finding her. There was no way Maggie had no idea what Lydia was by now. Not with all the resources she had. Whatever Lydia was, Maggie knew and now Maggie was on the chopping block.

"What? Why are you looking at me like that?" Lydia caught me staring and I tried ot play it off.

"Wh-no no I wasn't-"

"Stiles! What is it?" She raised her voice not buying it. I let out a sigh knowing that there was really no good way to tell her what I was about to tell her.

"Look Lydia, I didn't want to say anything but this, everything we're going through, we've kind of been through something like this before. A lot like this." Lydia crossed her arms over her chest as she wracked her brain for memories of what I was talking about.

"What do you mean? When?" She asked still not understanding.

"Your birthday party. The night that you poisoned everyone with Wolfsbane." I kept my eyes on her and watched her go over what I'd just said in her head before she finally looked at me.

"So you think I'm doing all this? Wow thanks Stiles. I appreciate that." She walked down the stairs and started towards the lot.

"Lydia! Come on Lydia, I'm sorry. I didn't mean you were trying to kill people. I just meant maybe, maybe you're somehow involved in getting people to kill themselves." I took a breath and realized that I was only digging the hole deeper.

"Now that I say that out loud it just sounds really terrible so I'm just gonna stop talking." I paused my strides as she slowed to a stop.

"Stiles…do you hear that?" I watched her kneel down in front of a sewer drain like she was trying to hear a conversation or something.

"Lydia? What do you hear?" I stepped closer trying to hear what she was hearing.

"A baby crying…I hear water running. Oh my God she's drowning the baby! STILES SHE'S DROWNING THE BABY!" Lydia stood up abruptly, panting.

"Someone's drowning!" She shrieked. I instantly started to panic looking back at the Motel. There were five wolves in there and only two of us. Even if we found who it was that was drowning, we had no idea how to save them. We were in over our heads but we had to keep fighting. We had to save the wolves.

[ **Boyd's POV** ]

I didn't feel like going back to the room with Isaac just yet so I decided to grab some ice so I could at least have a cold soda instead of a hot one. I don't know why everything was irritating me right now but I hated feeling this way. I could control it. I could keep my anger to myself but I felt like I wanted to explode. Isaac was just the tip of the iceberg. His melt down boiled down to not disappointing Scott now that he'd completely given up on Derek and his own repressed daddy issues. I wasn't going to let him pull me into some stupid fight just to have Maggie pissed off at me. He could seek that attention on his own.

I threw the lid to the ice maker open trying not to listen to Stiles and Maggie talking in the distance but it was hard not to. He actually thought he knew what kind of pain I was in. He didn't have a clue. When Maggie was killed, she came back. Erica didn't get that second chance. Erica will never get that second chance. I just have to live the rest of my life without her. Stiles was a complete moron if he honestly thought he could even touch my pain.

"Don't." I stopped scooping the ice when I heard a familiar voice.

"Don't leave me." I felt the chill of the ice as I ran my hand over it, moving it out of the way slightly.

"You weren't supposed to leave me." I knew the voice. It's haunted me since I was a kid.

"Alisha?" It was the first time in years I'd actually said her name out loud. When you carry that kind of onus around, it's hard to put even a name into your mouth without feeling the bitter taste of guilt rolling around on your tongue.

"Why did you leave me?" I started moving the ice more frantically as the voice grew louder.

"Alisha?!" I used both hands now, tearing through the ice like I had all those years ago when I'd lost her until finally a face poked through the ice. Her eyes opened wide and I stumbled back in shock, dropping the bucket I was holding and spilling the ice I'd collected all over the pavement.

"No! You can't be real! You're dead!" I ran back up to the room leaving the ice scattered as I slammed the door shut behind me and tried to catch my breath.

"Alisha is gone…she's been gone. Snap out of it!" I said aloud to myself hoping to calm myself down. I needed to find Maggie. Something was happening and I didn't know what but somehow she always had the answers or a way to calm me down. I turned to open the door again when the clock radio clicked on by itself. I walked over to it quickly and turned it back off. I barely got two steps away from it when it clicked on again, this time voices came through the static.

_"Do you remember about what time you last saw her?"_

_"I…I don't know. I can't remember."_

_"Sometimes it helps to put yourself right back in that moment. Imagine you're seeing Alisha skating on the ice, plenty of other people around, then what?"_

_"Then she was just gone. I was watching her! I swear I was watching her. I was just too tired. I didn't want to skate anymore."_

I felt my chest tighten. Listening to a memory. This was all just a memory. It wasn't real.

"Is she dead? Is it my fault?" I slammed my hand down on the clock shutting it off again. I looked down at my hands and noticed that they were shaking, despite being clenched tightly into a fist. I knew it was my fault. I shouldn't have gotten off the ice that die. Alisha died because I was too weak to save her.

The clock radio turned back on but this time it was just static. For a second, I thought I'd snapped out of it and the clock was just being screwy but then I heard a new voice.

"Boyd…Boyd can you hear me?" I felt a cry get caught in my throat.

"Erica? Is that you? How-" I shifted on the bed.

"Yes it's me. God it's so good to hear your voice. I've missed you so much. I wish you could be here with me." I closed my eyes for a moment listening to her voice and picturing her face. It felt like she was so close to me. I wanted her to be close to me again.

"Boyd, I never told you enough but I love you so much. Every day without you is so lonely and empty. Do you…do you still love me?" I let tears roll down my face as I nodded knowing she couldn't see me.

"Of course I still love you. It's hard to function without you here with me." I said honestly wishing I could hold her again. Wishing I could go back in time and take her place. It's too hard to do this all alone.

"Then why didn't you save me? Why didn't you protect me from them?" Her voice changed slightly and I felt panicked

"I tried. I tried the hardest I could but I just couldn't-" I pleaded with her. She'd told me that she was okay the night they took her away in the vault and that it wasn't my fault but I knew it was. I should have tried harder. I should have saved her.

"You let me die. You let your sister die." She raised her voice and I ripped the clock from the dresser, disconnecting the cord unable to hear anymore. As much as I missed Erica, I couldn't live with knowing she hated me.

"Why did you let me die? Why did you let us die?" Her voice was so sad when she said it. I could picture tears rolling down her pale cheeks and something inside of me broke.

"I'm sorry…I'm so sorry." I started to sob for a moment, gripping the clock to my chest as the static grew heavier and finally shut off.

"NO! COME BACK! ERICA COME BACK!" I shouted at the blanket clock until I knew it wouldn't be turning back on. I threw it across the room and let myself get carried away with grief. I didn't want Alisha to be alone anymore and all I wanted in the world was to have Erica back. There was only one way I could get to her again, feel her skin on my own, hold her in my arms, and prove to her that she means more to me than anything. There was only one solution for making sure that they both were watched over and taken care of so they knew how much I loved them both.

I'd have to kill myself.


	11. Heaviest of Hearts

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Authors Note: This is probably the most triggerwarning chapter I've ever written so please listen up, if you have a problem with attempted suicide or blood, please go ahead and skip this chapter. If you need me to give a safe review of the chapter, I will happily message you with what happens without triggering you. Serious business, I don't want anyone to upset themselves with this chapter on anything but an emotionally attached reader level. Thank you again for being so patient. I hope you enjoy this big bowl of sadness.

**[Maggie's POV]**

I paced the parking lot hitting redial over and over again making myself nauseous from spinning around trying to get a better signal as if that would make Cora pick up the phone faster. I even tried calling Nathan's phone a few times but all I kept getting was his voicemail. I knew they had to be safe as long as they stayed inside the house. The house was highly protected, I made sure of it or else I wouldn't have taken off. I almost dropped the phone on the pavement when I saw Cora's picture pop up with a video call.

"So you can Facetime with me but you can't answer a simple text? How are you even Derek's sister?" I laughed waiting for the image to come in clear but as it focused, I noticed a bloody and bound Cora sitting in a chair in the middle of the kitchen.

"Cora…" Her name slipped off my tongue just as a merciless laugh announced itself behind the phone.

"She's a bit tied up right now, how about you talk to me instead." The view flipped around and Kali had blood spatter on her neck.

"If you hurt her…I will fucking tear you apart." Maggie threatened only making Kali sneer.

"It's funny you use those exact words because that's exactly what I did to the fishermen." I felt my entire body tense thinking of Nathan.

"You seemed shocked. Did you think this was a game? I thought surely you'd learn from Derek that we mean business." Kali gritted her teeth, crimson eyes flashing.

"Please…don't hurt them." I pleaded trying to take a different approach. I had no one back home to protect them. I instantly regretted leaving them.

"It's too late for that but the good news is you'll get to say your goodbyes." The view changed and I felt my knees grow weak seeing Nathan leaning against the kitchen counter on the floor, bleeding out on the floor. There were claw marks down his arms, over his chest and he'd been beaten.

"M-Maggie…" Blood leaked from his mouth, jaw clearly broken.

"I'm so sorry Nathan. I'm…" I started to cry just seeing how helpless he was at the mercy of Kali. Aiden crouched down next to Nathan and gripped his jaw making Nathan groan.

"Please don't! Please! I'll do whatever you want! PLEASE!" I begged breaking down seeing Nathan so close to death and me not being there to save him.

"We're past that now." Aiden laughed before slashing Nathan's throat. I let out a cry as Nathan tried to lift his hands to his throat but they only made it to his chest before his eyes rolled back and his body went slack. I fell to my knees barely registering the pain as I clutched my phone in my hand shaking.

"You don't seem to get it so let me break it down for you little wolf. We no longer require your affiliation with our pack. You've proved equally as weak as Derek was and there is no room for that with us. But you took two of our own and that won't go unanswered." Kali explained returning back towards Cora, one of my laced daggers in her hand.

"Please just kill me. I'm the one who killed Lacy. Derek paid for Ennis, let me pay for Lacy." I didn't care about them killing me. I just cost Nathan his life. I'd kept him so far away from all of this for so long and one mistake cost him his life. I couldn't handle losing Cora too.

"You already know how unlikely that is and we don't plan on wasting out time with trying. I'm going to teach you a lesson, one I think you need to learn before you are so quick to throw out just how almighty you think a title makes you. While you exist in this world, everyone you love is a target. Everyone you love sits on a list, a list that will dwindle down over time until it's just you left." Kali pushed Cora's hair off of her face so I could see her more fully and she had tears streaking her cheeks.

"I've made it my personal mission to weed out that small list of people you have left Maggie. I'm going to kill every single person you love, that loves you just so you know that being the Nyvolore is more than just a title. It's truly sad that such a gift was wasted on you but I won't let it be wasted in vain." Kali flipped the blade around in her hand and plunged it into Cora's heart. I watched her jaw drop and stutter in shock from the wolfsbane laced blade.

"NO!" I screamed so loud I felt it echo in my head as I sobbed. I watched Cora's head lull to her chest as she took her last breath.

"As long as you exist Maggie, this will be the fate of every person you love." Those were Kali's last words before she stepped on the phone to crush it. I crumbled into myself as I let my sobs take over.

"Maggie? Maggie, what's wrong?" Stiles put his hand on my back and tried to get me to sit back but I just kept my head down crying into my phone.

"They're gone…because I exist…because I…" I cried feeling like I had been gutted. When I finally sat backwards Lydia crouched down in front of me.

"What happened? What are you talking about?" She pressed pushing my hair off my face to get a good view of my eyes.

"It's all my fault." I mumbled pathetically.

"Whatever it is, it's not your fault. We'll fix all of this. We're going to get everyone out. You just have to stay put." Lydia explained before jumping to her feet.

"She'll be safe out here but we have to go save the others!" Lydia grabbed Stiles by the arm to try and get him on his feet but he didn't move. He just cursed under his breath and continued to look me over.

"Maggie, talk to me. Tell me what to do to fix this." Stiles pleaded helplessly. Derek was gone. Cora was gone. Nathan was gone. My entire family was gone because I exist. How was he supposed to fix any of that?

"It's because I exist. Everything that happens…it's because I exist." I looked up at Stiles who looked puzzled at what I was mumbling.

"Whatever happened, we'll figure it out but please just stay right here okay? We have to get the others out. Just stay right here okay. I'll be right back." Stiles let got of my shoulders after a moment of hesitation and ran after Lydia. I looked down at my knees and could see a little drop of blood from where I had scrapped my knees just moments ago. It had already healed over and I wished it hadn't. I wished I could feel the pain on the outside like I felt on the inside but there was no way I could do that without healing. Kali's words kept repeating in my head like they were carved in with the thrust of my blade into Cora's heart.

" _As long as you exist Maggie, this will be the fate of every person you love."_ There were still people that I cared about right here. All of them were going to suffer because of me, because I exist. I had to do something. I had to not exist anymore.

I got to my feet and felt how shaking my knees were as I made my way across the parking lot and slowly climbed the stairs to the room where my stuff was. I had tossed my jacket on one of the beds and knew that my wolfsbane dagger was in the chest pocket where I'd left it. I took it out and stared down at it feeling how tight my chest had become just staring down at the matching blade to the one that was currently buried in my cousin's chest back home. I knew what I had to do.

I walked into the bathroom and started to fill the tub with warm water holding onto the sink to stare at myself in the mirror. I wiped at the makeup streaking my cheeks from sobbing in the parking lot. There were no bags under my eyes from lack of sleep. There were no red eyes from all the crying or worry lines plaguing my skin. There weren't even scars from what I'd been through. All of my pain was internal now. I woke up with it every morning with it churning in my stomach and went to sleep with it every night when I had managed to find the right combination of herbs and elixirs to numb myself out. My entire body was a scar. The pain ran so deeply inside of me now that I knew there was no coming back from this.

I stepped out of my boots letting them thunk on the cool tiles of the floor before I started to peel my clothes off carefully sitting them on the lid of the toilet. I felt my mother's necklace hanging around my neck heavily as if something in the universe was trying to hold onto me and keep me from doing this but I knew the weight of the decision I was making. I removed it and put it with the rest of my clothes without thinking twice about it. I didn't want to cause anymore problems for anyone. I didn't want there to be a huge mess left behind for anyone. I just wanted to not exist anymore and save the people I loved the most in this world. I just wanted the pain to go away. I wanted everything to stop happening and feeling like a car crash every damn time. Maybe this would take that pain away. Maybe if I was gone, everyone would be safe and happy.

I stepped into the water and took a deep breath taking in how warm it felt on my skin before running the blade up the back of my thigh on the right side, then the left. I felt the blood running down my legs as I slowly sat down in the tub watching it slowly start to cloud the clearness around me. I brought the dagger to my left arm and ran it up in one swift motion but struggled to do the same to the right. Once I managed to break the skin, I tugged as hard as I could before dropping the dagger into the tub letting it sink to the bottom. I tilted my head back and closing my eyes. I had done the research on the Nyvolore over the summer and I knew this was the first step in destroying what I was. I knew that soon enough there would be peace and everyone would be safe. They just had to be. All I had to do was close my eyes and bleed out all the pain I had inside of me.

**[Lydia's POV]**

The first room we tried was Isaac and Boyd's room. Allison was looking for Scott, Ethan was with Danny and would surely notice if he tried to drown himself and Maggie was a mess outside by the bus but she wasn't drowning. It had to be one of them. The moment Stiles forced the door open, I noticed Boyd's feet sticking out of the tub. Stiles rolled up his sleeves and sprinted into the room to try and drain the tub but something apparently was forced into the drain judging by how he fished his hand down there for more than a few seconds.

"He blocked the drain with something. I can't get to it." Stiles confessed my suspicion.

"What do we do?" He was too heavy to lift and the tub was filled too high to somehow filter it out. Stiles looked at the safe and pulled his hand from the water to the heavy bolder-like safe.

"Here, help me." I bent down and tried to remember to lift with my knees but I wasn't stupid. Between my body weight and Stiles undoubtedly low lifting weight, there was no way we'd even get this thing to budge.

"Oh God is he dead!? How long can a werewolf stay underwater?" I asked as Stiles desperately continued to try and find some leverage to lift the safe even just a little bit.

"You think I know that?!" When we both stumbled back unable to budge the safe Stiles stood up.

"Dammit it's too heavy." He took a few steps back before he yelped.

"AH! The fu…wait a sec, the heater. Ethan came out of it when he touched the heater. We need some sort of heat source or fire." Stiles waved his hands around frantically.

"STILES HE'S UNDERWATER!" I shouted pointing out the obvious.

"I'M AWARE OF THAT!" Stiles paced around the bathroom raking his hands through his hair.

"We need Maggie…or Scott." He sounded defeated but I grabbed his arm before he could go and retrieve either of them.

"Wait! On the bus they'll have emergency road flares. They have their own oxidizers! They can burn underwater." I explained quickly.

"Seriously?" Stiles looked surprised as if he had any reason to actually doubt my intelligence.

"YES! GO!" I hurried him off before trying to lift the safe again by myself already knowing that it was pointless but I had to try.

"Come on Boyd! Hang in there! Please!" I tried the drain again and silently prayed I'd figure out a way to fish out whatever he used to clog it. I slammed my wet hands on the side of the tub defeated when I couldn't reach the cloth. I ran into the room and looked out the door not seeing Stiles anywhere. How could someone who was on the cross country team run so insanely slow? I jumped when I heard whimpering coming from under one of the beds in the room. Against my better judgment, I knelt down slowly and carefully peeled the sheet up to see Isaac in the fetal position mumbling to himself.

"I-Isaac?" I whispered cautiously making his head snap up as if he was a terrified animal waiting for the prey to swallow him whole. He jerked back into the shadows of the bed and I jumped to my feet just as Stiles ran back in holding a couple of flares.

"I got em but I have no idea how to use them. What do I do?" I looked at the flare and knew it was a standard road side flare with a matchstick cap.

"The cap! It's like a match. Strike it like a match." Stiles removed the cap and started running the cap across the flare. After about six tries, knowing that Boyd had been underwater for at least 5 minutes now, I started to panic.

"STILES!"

"I'm trying!" Stiles continued to strike the flare a few more times before actually getting it lit. We both jumped back from flame as it illuminated the entire room in red. Stiles took off and threw the flare into the water causing Boyd to spring up, tossing the safe like a shoe box into the corner of the bathroom and letting out a boisterous snarl. I jumped back into Stiles chest and we watched Boyd catch his breath.

"Boyd…you good?" Stiles tested making him respond with a simple head shake.

"Isaac's under the bed. I've got him." Stiles cocked his eyebrow at me but I just nodded my head grabbing the travel bag with Boyd's name on it and a towel from the rack. I stood in front of Boyd and gently put the towel around his shoulders trying to soak up some of the water from his shirt and head.

"Whatever you heard in your head, it wasn't real. Something about this place is messing with you guys. We have to get you out of here." I started dabbing at his face and he reached up to stop me.

"You're wrong. It is real. It's all real. We just don't talk about it. Everyone has ghosts that haunt them but no one ever talks about them." I met Boyd's eyes and saw something I'd never bothered to take the time to see before. Pure sadness. I didn't know if it was because of him losing Erica but it looked as though his pain ran deeper.

"Whatever happened to you, whatever you think you've done to deserve taking your own life, you're wrong." I resumed moving my arm once his grip slacked and dried his head off. He watched me warily like he was waiting for me to do or say something to somehow scold him for what he'd done but I had no intentions of doing that. I stepped out long enough for him to change his clothes and Stiles had gotten him some water to drink.

"What the hell is going on?" Isaac rubbed at his head like he'd just been pulled from a nightmare.

"Something is going on with the wolves. We have to get you out of here. Grab your stuff." Allison came to the door as Isaac reached for his bag, grabbing his hoodie and throwing it on.

"We don't really have anywhere we can go other than the bus." She pointed out looking at her cell phone.

"I've been trying Scott's phone but he's not answering and I can't find him anywhere." Allison explained with growing concerned.

"Let's get them loaded up on the bus and then figure out where Scott is." Allison helped Isaac down the stairs and Boyd came out of the bathroom in dry clothes. Stiles had run a few doors down to look for Scott so it was just Boyd and I.

"Are you feeling any clearer?" I asked trying not to step over any boundaries.

"I feel like I was underwater for a really long time but I'll get over it." Boyd pulled his bag over his shoulder and cleared his throat.

"Thank you…" Boyd and I stared at one another and for a moment I think he knew that he wasn't alone in his pain. We all seem to be going through a lot of suffering right now. Stiles and Allison returned to the room and Boyd refused any help to get down to the bus which didn't surprise me. It was nice to see him warm up to me at least but I didn't expect him to be that way with Stiles and Allison. I kind of think Maggie had something to do with him letting me help him get cleaned up. It was weird to think that a year ago, I wouldn't have even blinked an eye at Maggie or Boyd and now I would do whatever I could to help them.

A sudden wave of nausea washed over me and I stumbled back into the dresser. It was like a strong breeze had blown right though me and my body started to catch a chill.

"Okay so Ethan tried to tear is own organs out, Boyd tried to drown himself and Isaac went into shock under the bed. What's next?" Allison rubbed the back of her neck like all of this was over but it was far from that.

"I don't know but whatever it is, it's bad. I can feel and if we don't get out of here soon then we're going to lose someone." I felt like I was losing control. Like my anxiety was being amplified somehow.

"Lyd...we're doing the best we can." Allison interrupted but I cut her off.

 **"** It's not good enough! People are dying. Kids! Kids are trying to kill themselves and we're barely able to save them. We need to do more." I picked up the discarded towel that I'd dried Boyd off with and tossed it into the still water of the clogged tub. Allison looked like she didn't know what to say to make me feel better and I felt awful for taking it out on her.

"I talked to Maggie all summer and I never really knew what she went through trying to keep all of us safe until now. How does she do this alone? How does she possibly think she can do this alone because it's been one night and I'm already on the verge of hysteria." I tried to steady my breathing but the sudden overwhelming feeling of shock started taking over my body.

"Lydia? What's wrong? Are you hearing something again?" Allison asked trying to figure me out. I concentrated on the sound in my head. It sounded like water running and soft sniffles but it didn't sound like before. It didn't sound like anyone was drowning. I hissed at a sudden sharp pain in my legs and Stiles ran back in the room.

"What are you feeling? Did you hurt yourself helping Boyd?" Allison tried to reach out to me but I cringed at the pain's spreading up my legs and into my arms.

"No it's not like a pulled muscle. It feels like someone's cutting into my skin or something. It's making me queasy." I explained growing annoyed due to how awful I was feeling.

"We have a big problem. Maggie isn't on the bus. I went down to throw mine and Scott's bags in with Isaac and Boyd and she wasn't there." Stiles panicked looking between the both of us frantically pacing. I closed my eyes for a moment and could hear soft humming.

"I have this feeling that I'm out of time but I can still hear this voice humming that damn sunshine song and the longer we stand here worried about my well being, the closer someone else is to dying." Allison finally grabbed my arm and rubbed her hand up and down my back soothing my apprehension only slightly.

"Sunshine song?" Stiles stopped his pacing instantly.

"Stiles? What is it?" He looked down at his feet for a moment, mumbling to himself.

"You are my sunshine is the song that my mom would sing to calm me down. Maggie knows that." Stiles was on to something obviously but he was struggling to share it.

"If she's humming that to calm herself down then that's a good thing right?" Allison made Stiles finally look up at me.

"She said that everything happens because she exists and that it was all her fault." I felt my body growing colder and wrapped my arms around myself.

"What does that mean?" Allison questioned but Stiles licked his lips before sprinting towards the door. I didn't think twice about following. I just prayed that the next door we broke through didn't expose a worse state.

**[Stiles POV]**

I could feel my heart pounding so hard that my rib cage actually ached. I didn't wait for Allison or Lydia to give me the key to their room. I kicked the bottom of the door hard enough for it to spring open. My eyes saw the dark red water in the bathtub and my legs pushed across the room.

"NO!" I shouted pushing the door open the rest of the way to see Maggie fully. Her skin was so pale in contrast to how bloody the water in the tub was. Her head was lulled back, lip trembling like she was mumbling something. I stood next to the tub in shock.

"Oh God!" Lydia squealed covering her mouth behind me. I reached into the tub and pulled Maggie out of the water seeing the long gashes on her arms first and then the ones on the back of her legs as blood stained my forearm. Her whole body was shaking as Lydia yanked the towels off of the rack to press against the back of her legs.

"Come on Maggie! COME ON MAGGIE! STAY WITH ME!" I shouted as I rocked her back and forth.

"Her blades are infused with wolfsbane." Allison explained picked up the bloody dagger from the water.

"What do we do?!" Lydia cried as I pushed her damp her off her face and continued to pat her face.

"Maggie I need you to keep your eyes open okay? Stay with me. HEY!" Maggie opened her eyes a little more but it wasn't much.

"Just…let…me…go." She muttered from her chattering teeth.

"Oh no no I can't do that. You know I can't do that." I could feel Maggie's blood soaking into jeans as Allison wrapped towels around the gashes on her legs.

"I'm so mad at you right now. How could you make me go through this twice in a lifetime? How many times do I have to tell you that I need you in this world huh? I NEED YOU! DO YOU HEAR ME!?" I shouted shifting her on my lap and making her eyes open again.

"This isn't working. She's already lost a lot of blood." Allison started to get upset ripping Maggie's shirt that sat on the toilet lid to wrap around the long gashes of her arms.

"Come on Mag's. Tell me how to fix this. You can't…I'm sorry. I'm so sorry I couldn't save Derek. I'm so sorry I couldn't save Erica but you can't leave me. I need you here with me whether you're shutting me out or not. I need you on this planet." I sobbed shaking her to try and keep her conscious. Her skin was so cold. I'd never felt her skin this cold before and the towels were starting to become too soaked through with blood to even stop it from pouring out of her small body.

"GOD DAMMIT! PLEASE! PLEASE DON'T DIE! I CAN'T LOSE YOU! I'LL DO ANYTHING!" I screamed until I tasted blood in the back of my throat.

"We need another flare!" Lydia wept still keeping pressure on Maggie's legs but Allison shook her head.

"We don't have anymore." I put my lips on Maggie's forehead and kissed it.

"Our story can't end like this Maggie. I need you to snap out of this. I need you." I begged squeezing her a little tighter than I should have. I felt her legs drop a bit as Lydia scrambled to pull the dagger back out of the tub.

"Lydia, what are you doing?" Allison asked but before she got an answer, Lydia ran the blade down her palm wincing.

"Lydia!" Allison shouted as she knelt down in front of me taking Maggie's limp hand and doing the same.

"What the hell are you doing?!" I tried jerking backwards to pull Maggie away from her but she clapped their hands together, closing her eyes. I watched as the wounds on Maggie's forearm's healed shut and looked down to her legs to see them virtually disappearing. Maggie's eyes shot open startling Allison and I both as she started taking heavy breaths and kicking her legs out making Lydia fall back into the tub still gripping her palm.

"Maggie…" I whispered her name and she looked up at me strangely before cutting her eyes towards Lydia.

"Don't ever do that again." Lydia scolded her pulling on her cut hand until she was sitting up. Lydia finally let go of her hand and Maggie instantly tried to cover herself up with her arms making Allison clear her throat.

"Let's get you cleaned up." Allison reached for her hands and helped Maggie off of my lap and onto the toilet lid. Maggie looked at me like she didn't know what to say, like she knew that she broke my heart all over again but she didn't have the words to even begin to explain herself. I got up feeling how wobbly my legs were but insisted on stepping out into the room. Lydia grabbed Maggie's bag and shut the door behind herself leaving me to myself out in the room. I sat down on the bed slowly and tried not to focus on the fact that just minutes ago, Maggie was laid out in my arms bleeding to death again only this time it was her choice. I had to remind myself that she was poisoned, that she wouldn't have done this otherwise. I looked down at my hands and almost every inch of my arms down to my fingertips was covered in her blood. I got up quickly and left the room. I still had the key for the room Scott and I were in so let myself in abruptly and immediately ran to the bathroom to clean myself up. I tried scrubbing the blood off my jeans but soap and cold water weren't really doing anything. The harder I scrubbed, the redder my hands became.

"FUCK!" It was too much. I couldn't handle this. I slammed my hands down on the sink over and over again clenching my teeth and practically growling my frustrations out with each hit.

"Stiles…HEY! Stiles!" Allison gripped my shoulder and I stopped my assault to catch my breath.

"I know it's hard but you've got keep it together. She needs you right now." Allison squeezed my arm trying to snap me out of it but this wasn't just some fight or Maggie pushing me away. She took a knife to her skin. She was inches from death and again I had to feel like someone had gutted me as she bled out all over me. I still had nightmares over that night in the preserve even though it happened over a year ago. Now I'd have a new nightmare and I hated it.

"She doesn't need me. What the hell am I supposed to do for her? Someone just got her to try and kill herself and I completely blew her off earlier. I shouldn't have left her in the parking lot. I should have stayed with her." I kicked the bottom of the sink feeling the sharp pain in my big toe.

"Maybe she's right to not want to be here. I've been fighting for her to stay for so long but look at all the pain that she's in. Look at all the things in her head that came spilling out into that tub. I'm the problem. We're all the problem. She always felt like she's the reason everyone dies, even before she knew she was a Hale. She's had to lose so much and I just stopped thinking about what was going on inside her head because of how much I wanted her to be with me." I admitted selfishly.

"Stiles, listen to me. You and me, we're only human. We love these people with everything we have in our hearts and would go to war to keep them safe but the only thing we can do with the war that rages in their heads is remind them that they are not alone. That they will never fight alone because they have us." I looked over at Allison knowing she was right no matter how hard it seemed, I had to pull myself together. She gave me a sympathetic look as I collected myself. .

She patted my back walking back to the other room to find Maggie curled up in fresh clothes, knees to her chest and arms wrapped tightly around them sitting on the floor in front of the bed. Lydia was cleaning up the blood frantically and trying to find a bag for Maggie's things. I moved towards her slowly and knelt in front of her knowing that touching her wasn't an option right now.

"I didn't know what I was doing. It was like something had taken over. I'm sorry." Maggie apologized. I shook my head wanting to hold her so badly.

"It's not your fault. You've been poisoned." I explained watching her shift slightly drawing away from me. There was a beat of silence between us before I realized I couldn't see her arms or legs and not being able to see if her wounds were still there worried me.

"How do you feel?" I breathed watching the slow blink of her eyes.

"I'm in pain. I'm in so much pain all the time. I just want it to be over. I don't want to fight anymore." Lydia had stopped cleaning and walked back into the room looking apprehensive like she wasn't sure we'd really snapped Maggie back or not. I'd seen Maggie like this before. Right after she lost Karen. I remembered what she was like. This wasn't drugged Maggie. This is broken Maggie.

"I don't want to watch everyone I love die. I don't want to pretend that I don't love you. I don't want to live every day knowing that I got you killed. I just want to forget but I can't. I'm not built that way." I couldn't even enjoy how my heart spiked hearing that she was possibly still in love with me because of how wrecked she was.

"Maggie, we've been here before. I know that you feel like the weight of the world is crushing you but you aren't alone in all this. You never have been. Let us help you. Let me take some of that weight." This time I reached out to her. I placed my hand carefully on her ankle and ran my thumb across her cold skin. It was strange to feel how cold she was considering she was usually much warmer.

"I can't." She got choked up for a moment.

"My fate is to live through all of this, watch everyone I care about, everyone I love die. I'm destined to be alone." She looked so pitiful as she let her tears fall down her cheeks freely inside of quickly wiping them away.

"Well that's just unacceptable. We're here and we aren't going anywhere." Lydia knelt down next to Maggie and wiped her tears from her face unwilling to let Maggie look as lost as she felt.

"That's right. Screw destiny because today you aren't alone." Allison ran her hand down Maggie's back and Maggie let herself lean into her. Lydia joined their group hug but Maggie kept her eyes on me. There was so much that we needed to talk about but it wasn't the right time or place. We communicated that with just one look. We'd always been able to do that and right now I hoped that I was communicating how much she meant to me.

"We should get her on the bus and find Scott." I cleared my throat standing up. The girls let go of Maggie and helped her to her feet. She stumble and I stepped forward to catch her.

"I've got you." Maggie tilted her head back to look up at me and she nodded.

"I know you do." She put her arm around my waist and I pulled her into my body as we walked slowly out of the hotel room. Allison was in front of us and Lydia followed carrying Maggie's bag of stuff. Maggie held onto my side as tightly as her weak grip would allow but I made sure to take things slow. When Allison stopped abruptly at the bottom of the steps, I looked up to see we'd found Scott.

"Scott?" I called out softly but he didn't even flinch. He was gripping a flare tightly in his shaking hand, his whole body trembling.

"Oh god…its gas. He's covered in gasoline." Maggie tried to push away from me like she could somehow run over and stop Scott from doing anything crazy but I pushed her back into Lydia.

"Don't! Just stay put okay?" Allison stepped out in front of me towards Scott. I stood back in shock. I had just managed to pull through yanking Maggie out of a bathtub full of her own blood and now my best friend was soaked through with gasoline holding a flare. He had to be able to hear how fast my heart was beating. He had to know how utterly fucking terrified I was to see him like this.

"There's no hope." His voice shook like his body and Allison stepped forward cautiously.

"Scott, what do you mean? There's always hope." She tried but even her voice shook with fear for him.

"Not for me. Not for Derek." I could hear Maggie hold back a cry at Scott's confession but I couldn't look away from Scott to check on her.

"Derek wasn't your fault. You know Derek wasn't your fault." Allison stood firmly reminding Scott that what happened to Derek wasn't his fault and it wasn't. The alpha pack was kicking out asses before we even had a chance to fight back.

"Every time I try to fight back it just gets worse. People keep getting hurt. I can smell Maggie's blood all over you. All over all of you. People keep getting killed-" I finally stepped in front of Allison ready to talk him off the ledge.

"Scott, listen to me okay? This isn't you. This is just someone in your head telling you to do this. Maggie had the same thing in her head and that's why you smell her blood on us. She's right here though. She's fine." Scott didn't bother making eye contact with me as I continued to take slow steps towards him. My only other option if he didn't let me take the flare was to tackle him but I had to try talking first.

"What if it isn't? What if it isn't just someone in our heads? We aren't fine. We'll never be fine." Allison threw her hand over her mouth to keep from letting her emotions out of her mouth and stepped back two steps letting me take the lead.

"What if this is the best thing I could do for everyone else?" It killed me to hear Scott say that. I wouldn't know what to do if I had to live in a world without him. Even when Maggie left us, I had Scott. We've been through everything together. When my mom died, when his dad left, when he got bit. Scott and I were more than just best friends.

"It all started the night I got bitten. You remember the way things were before that? You and me. We were nothing." Scott said bitterly and all I could do was shake my head trying my damnedest to not fall apart when he needed me to be strong for him.

"We weren't popular. We weren't good at lacrosse. We weren't important. We were no one." So much had happened to us since Scott got bitten, it was hard to even remember what life was like before that. Normal seemed like decades ago but it hasn't all been bad. We've had simple wins. I just had to remind him of that.

"Maybe I should just go back to being no one again. No one at all." He finally looked up at me and my jaw felt heavy as I tried to push the words that ached in my chest out of my mouth.

"Scott just listen to me okay? You're not no one, okay? You're someone. Scott, you're my best friend and I need you. Before all of this, before you were bitten, all we had was each other." I had taken the last five steps towards Scott, unable to control the tears falling from my eyes as I maintained eye contact with him. I had to maintain that contact with him. I couldn't lost him.

"Scott, you're my brother." I took a deep breath and looked down at the puddle of gasoline that collect at Scott's feet.

"Okay so if we're going to do this then you're just gonna have to take me with you." I stepped into the puddle and put my hand on the flare gently feeling it tighten in his hand before his face started to show cracks of faltering. He just stared at me for a few moments before Maggie's voice broke through the silence.

"No…I can't accept that. I just got you both back. I can't lose you again. Not like this. Not now." Maggie pleaded but I just sighed trying to relieve some of the tension in my chest as I held onto the flare carefully.

"Maggie just stay back okay?" I knew she wouldn't listen but I had to try. I had to try to keep her safe.

"I can't do this anymore. I can't save anyone. I can't even save myself." Scott looked away from me towards Maggie as she walked towards us. I kept my hands on the flare and glanced at Scott. If he started to back peddle, I was going to have to try and take him down.

"You're wrong. You're so wrong. You've saved me countless times. Do you remember when I first told you about what happened to my mom? You held me and told me that you'd never let me be alone. You saved me that night on that hammock." Maggie's hand rested on my hip as she stood next to me and I knew she needed me to balance her out. She was still very weak but she probably felt the pull like I did. Scott needed us both and we wouldn't be anywhere else.

"I've loved you my entire life just the way you are. Before you were a wolf. Before you could play lacrosse. Just you has always been enough for me." Maggie had stepped up to where she was just slightly in front of me putting herself between Scott and I. She fit perfectly there since we were kids.

"We can't do this without you Scotty. We just can't. We're the golden trio remember?" I couldn't help but think about just what we've all been together, just the three of us. We were lucky to be alive but I knew we were alive because we had one another. I reached up and took Maggie's hand into mine pushing her just an inch closer to Scott's chest.

"So if you're done then so are we because we're with you until the very end, you have to know that." I heard Maggie sniffle as Scott started to break slowly loosening his grip on the flare.

"We love you Scotty. Please don't give up now. You matter. You always matter." Scott let go of the flare and I took it from him tossing it as hard as I could in the opposite direction. Maggie reached up and grabbed Scott's face with her free hand pulling his head down to hers and resting his forehead against her own as they both cried.

"I'm…I'm sorry." Scott sobbed as I gripped his shoulder in relief now that he was out of harm's way.

"It's okay. We're going to be okay." I barely got the words out before Lydia wailed.

"NO!" She sprinted towards us pushing me hard in the back and out of instinct, I wrapped my arms around Scott, sandwiching Maggie between us as we fell to the ground. I could hear the loud explosion and blast of heat on the back of my neck only making me grip harder onto Scott as Maggie covered her face with her hands.

**[Scott's POV]**

I opened my eyes slowly seeing the fire had died down. The weight of both Stiles and Maggie was heavy on my chest but I was more worried that they were hurt.

"Maggie? Stiles? Are you okay?" I winced seeing Stiles head pop up.

"Yeah…yeah I'm good. You good?" He looked at me and I nodded.

"Maggie?" Stiles spoke but Maggie coughed.

"I'd be better if you weren't crushing me." Stiles quickly rolled off of Maggie and she let out a breath she was unable to take. The weight on my chest was nothing now that Stiles had rolled off of us. Maggie looked up at me patting my chest.

"Are you okay?" She asked reaching up from my chest to touch my face again.

"I'm about as good as you I guess." I felt like I'd been drugged but I knew I wasn't the only one. Isaac and Boyd ran off the bus and helped Allison and Lydia up from the ground as Stiles peeled Maggie off of my chest before pulling me up by my forearm.

"Is everyone okay?" I asked feeling how raw my throat was. Maggie walked over to Lydia who looked like she'd been stunned.

"I saw it…the Darach. I saw it in the fire." Lydia mumbled as Maggie held onto her hands.

"Who was it? Did you see their face?" Allison glanced back to the bus where the flames were slowly flickering out with Boyd using the extinguisher from the bus.

"They didn't really have a face. It was all mangled like someone clawed it off or something. I don't know." Lydia gripped her head like she was dizzy and stumbled back into Isaac.

"Alright we need to get her on the bus. Isaac, grab Scott's bag please. Boyd grab the first aid kit so we can patch up these scraps. We've got to get you cleaned up." Maggie was still struggling to navigate herself around but she wasted no time stepping up to getting everyone taken care of. Stiles gravitated towards her and she didn't even ask before letting herself lean on him for balance.

I walked towards the maintenance bathroom that was next to the motel office feeling how tight my chest was yanking the door open hard enough to pull the handle off and destroy the knob but I didn't care. Those thoughts were out of my head but it was like my body was fighting against the panic of the entire situation. I pulled my shirt over my head and tossed it to the floor trying to somehow get the gasoline off of my skin with just the soap on the wall and the water in the small sink. The smell was probably going to be in my systems for weeks and it was already giving me a head ache.

"Scott…I brought you some clothes." Allison sniffled behind me as she sat the bag down near me.

"Thanks." I said looking back from the sink towards her. She hesitated for a moment before running over and wrapping her arms around my neck. It knocked the breath out of me but I hugged her back. She gripped the back of my head pulling my hair slightly but I could feel the slight tremor in her body. I remember every moment of what happened even though I was out of it. It was like I was trapped in my body and I couldn't help myself from feeling those things. Allison tried to talk me back but for some reason she couldn't. I had mixed emotions about that but before I could think too much about it, she pulled out of the hug flashing me a thankful smile before leaving just as quickly as she came.

I finished changing out of my clothes and gripped the sink trying not to think about how tight my chest kept getting like I was about to have-

 **"** It's because you're an asthmatic. That's why it's hard for you to breathe. This is a special kind of wolfsbane. I recognized the burn when I used my dagger to…yeah." Maggie startled me. I looked back to see Stiles collecting my gasoline soaked clothes and shoving them in a trashcan.

"By special you mean really really sucky." It felt like every time I inhaled it was hot glass scratching down my throat and constricting me from taking in much air without it hurting or burning my nose.

"Being soaked in gasoline probably didn't help either." Stiles brushed his hands off on his jeans to rid them of the smell but ended up washing them in the sink anyway. I tried to focus on Maggie's heartbeat as it beat steady and slow as she watched me breathe.

"How are you holding up?" I shook my head knowing that all the things I said and what I almost went through with was probably going to stick with us for a long time. I could feel the tension between us and didn't know how to reassure them that I was going to be okay.

"My heads clearing but-" Maggie cut me off.

"I was actually talking about you." I followed her gaze to Stiles who stood silently rubbing at the palm of his left hand like he couldn't get something off of the skin. He looked up at the both of us surprised that she was worried about him instead of me but she was right to be worried. I still had no idea why he smelled of Maggie's blood but whatever happened, it didn't help that I too was so effected by it.

"Nothing about tonight was easy for any of us but you had to stop 5 different people from killing themselves tonight. I can't imagine how hard tonight has been on you." Stiles had never been this quiet. It was worrisome.

"Yeah man, you were super hero status tonight." I smiled as much as I could before the pain reminded me that it was there and I flinched away.

"I'm not a hero man. I'm actually freaking the hell out on the inside. I'm just hiding it really well." Stiles shook his head but Maggie pushed up from where she was sitting and sighed.

"Not really." She squeezed his arm and rested a hand on his chest.

"I can take care of him if you want to-" This time Stiles cut her off.

"Yeah I don't see myself leaving you guys alone for a while to be honest." Stiles laughed darkly.

"I've got to know…why is he covered in your blood, Mags?" They both looked over at me and Maggie bit her lip.

"Was it bad?" I pressed desperately wanting to know what happened. The moment I saw my mom's throat being slashed by what I can only assume was a hallucination of Deucalion, I sort of checked out.

"I think something triggered all of us to do what we did, at least that's what happened to me. I finally got a hold of Cora or at least I thought I did. When I finally thought I got connected I saw Kali and Aiden torturing Cora and Nathan." I turned around and leaned against the wall listening to her.

"They made me watch as they ripped Nathan's throat out and killed Cora with my own dagger." Maggie got chocked up and Stiles reached out to put his hand on her back.

"Kali told me that she planned to kill everyone else that I loved because all of this was my fault. She said that because I exist, everyone I love will suffer and I just couldn't take that. I couldn't handle the thought of losing you guys. I've already lost so much." Maggie wiped at her face and Stiles tightened his grip around her shoulders. I was actually surprised that she was letting him comfort her.

"So I decided much like you did that it would be better if I just didn't exist. I took my wolfsbane dagger, cut my arms and legs and tried to bleed myself out in the bathtub." I felt my body lock up at her admission. She looked down at her hands wringing them in front of herself nervously.

"What? How did…" I didn't know what to ask or how to ask it. I was just glad that she was okay now.

"Lydia and I share a blood bond. It was something I had showed her over the summer. I guess she was paying attention." Maggie pulled herself together and finally met my gaze.

"I saw Deucalion ripping my mom's throat out in the parking lot. He said I was the alpha now and that he was coming after everyone I love so I know exactly how you feel." I reached out and put my hand on Maggie's resting on the sink and she frowned.

"I guess we're just sort of stuck huh? Constantly sacrificing to keep everyone we love safe. It's never-ending." She had a point. That's the way it seemed these days. We had to give up so much to protect the people we cared about and the people of this town but we didn't really have a ton of options.

"As long as we're together, we'll get through it. It's what we do. We're a family. We'll always be a family." I reminded her. I watched her face soften for just a moment before it started to crumble. She ran into my chest and buried her face into my chest, arms wrapped tightly around me like she was afraid I'd disappear. I put my hand on the back of her head and held her in place as she breathed in deeply. I looked over at Stiles who stood with his arms across his chest until I extended my left arm to clap on his shoulder and pull him into me. Everything that happens around us chipped away at whatever hope we had that we'd make it out of this someday but just standing here, holding onto two of the most important people in my life, I knew that this is where I drew my strength from. I honestly don't know what I'd do without them.

"I'm going to need you both to promise me not to ever let yourselves get like that again. I wouldn't make it in a world without either of you." Stiles breathed heavily and Maggie tightened her hold on me like she was silently agreeing with me to never let ourselves get that low again. My whole body felt strange. I hated that those thoughts ran through my body for so long. It was more than being poisoned. It was like all my insecurities and doubts surfaced in the most hurtful, scary way possible and I was out of control with emotions. All this time I've been worried about losing control and hurting others but I never once thought about how I could possibly hurt myself.

"I've got to check on Lydia and the boys. I'll meet you two out on the bus okay?" Maggie pulled away finally and ran her hands through her hair like she was trying to prepare herself with putting her brave face back on. Stiles and I both nodded at her watching her walk out of the bathroom.

"You're wrong you know, about the whole hero thing. Whether you believe it or not, you are a hero." Stiles leaned against the sink and pinched the bridge of his nose.

"So are you but what does being a hero get us man? Look at what we're facing. I almost…I meant everything I said. You're my brother, Scott. You'll always be my brother no matter what happens. I just…" I put my hand on his shoulder again trying to calm him down taking notice of his hands shaking.

"You know you can talk to me right? I know we have a lot of shit going on but I'm here for you whenever you need me." Stiles pressed and I smiled at him.

"Yeah man I know." Stiles stared at me for a few moments before sighing.

"Let's get on the bus." Stiles and I walked out of the bathroom to see that everyone else had already gotten on the bus. Allison sat next to Lydia watching her carefully as she rested her head back against the seat and winced.

"Do you need anything?" Lydia opened her eyes slightly even though I whispered trying not to disturb her.

"We're fine. Just have to get some sleep." Allison pulled her hood up onto her head and her eyes looked glazed over from exhaustion.

"Are you okay?" Lydia muttered. Her throat sounding raw because of the stress of today. I put my hand on her neck discreetly taking some of her pain away before giving her a smile.

"I'm getting there. Get some sleep." Her eyes grew heavy as I looked back at Boyd who was staring at me. I lifted my head silently seeing if he was okay and he nodded back at me. Maggie was sitting next to Isaac, checking up on him so I figured I could just sit down and rest my eyes for a few moments. I leaned my head against the window trying to steady my heart rate and breathing so I could try and get some sleep but when Stiles plopped down next to me I jumped.

"I got your back. Get some sleep." He slapped my knee and pulled out his phone to read through something like he was going to keep watch or something. It didn't feel like he was watching me to make sure I was alright. It was like he knew I was struggling to close my eyes and actually calm myself enough to sleep. He was right, he truly was my brother and it put my mind at ease to have him watching my back.

**[Maggie's POV]**

"I've tried apologizing to Boyd but he's not really having it right now. I am sorry if I hurt you." I shook my head at Isaac. He'd been apologizing since we stepped on the bus but I kept telling him that it wasn't his fault. A lot has happened the last few days and tension were high. Being poisoned only amplified things.

"We all went through something tonight. Boyd is probably just digesting. We'll get through it." I rubbed his knee thoughtfully trying to get him to relax but he just let out a heavy sigh of disappointment before resting his hand on top of mine, stopping my hand.

"The things I said to you…I didn't mean any of-"

"Isaac, it's okay." He turned in his seat towards me.

"No you need to listen to me now that I have a level head and can be honest." I stilled letting Isaac speak knowing that he didn't need to explain anything. Whether he believed what he said or not, I know he'd never have said those things to my face without being under some sort of negative influence. He would never intentionally try to hurt me.

"What you do for all of us, it changes you. It drags you down to places I couldn't even imagine going but you go there without second thought because you care about all of us. You have to know that you aren't a monster. You'd be completely dense to think that we don't need you." Isaac squeezed my hand and I lifted my free one to rest on his cheek before pulling his face down to kiss. No one will ever understand what Isaac and I went through together. I have literally killed for him and I know he would do the same without a moment's hesitation. Everyone thinks they'd go to the mat for the people they love but most are never truly tested. We'll always have that bond despite it not being the happiest memory we have together. We know that nothing would ever tear us apart.

"Get some rest okay?" I got up from the seat and he turned to stretch his legs across the seat. I pulled the jacket off his bag and put it on top of him before turning to look at Boyd. I took the two steps towards his seat and gave him a few moments to tell me not to sit down if space was what he really wanted. I sat down and made sure not to touch him. Lydia gave me a brief of how they found him in the bathtub when she got on the bus earlier but I didn't know what he saw. If we all saw our own demons then I didn't plan on asking him to drudge it up.

"Do you want to talk about it?" I asked watching as he shook his head no. I didn't expect a different answer but I had to ask. Boyd was my rock in all of this. If we were all normal. If none of this was real and we were just regular teenagers, I honestly feel like both Stiles and Scott would fit seamlessly with Isaac and Boyd. I spent all this time pushing Scott and Stiles away to keep them safe but ended up leaning so fiercely onto them I forgot why I was fighting so hard to begin with.

"Okay well you know where to find me if and when you do decide to talk about it right? I'll leave you alone-" I barely stood up out of the seat when he reached over and grabbed my hand stopping me.

"Can you just...can you stay long enough for me to fall asleep? Please?" His eyes already looked so heavy but I could see the hard wall he usually carried around for the world to see starting to chip away. He never had that wall with me. He didn't need it. I sat back down and let him continue holding my hand. He leaned his head against the window and I leaned my forehead against this shoulder trying to take as much pain from as I could so he would be able to sleep.

I waited about 20 minutes before I tried to move. I didn't want to startle him awake and mostly everyone else had already dozed off already. All except for Stiles who seemed to be waiting for me. I moved down the aisle slowly so I didn't wake anyone up and slid into the seat behind Scott. He had his arm bent backwards, to rest his head against the window but the more he twitched the more I knew he was uncomfortable. I put my hand on his neck and stroked slowly watching his blackened veins run into my fingertips and up my arms slowly draining his pain and swallowing it down. I closed my eyes resting my head on the seat and listening to Scott's heart steadily beat relaxing into his slumber until I felt the seat sink next to me. I turned my head keeping it resting on the seat in front of me and Stiles smirked.

"I think he's asleep now." His eyes were glossy from lack of sleep but that was nothing new for him. Stiles either sleep like a rock or tossed and turned.

"You should be asleep." I said running my hand through my now dry hair. I could smell my blood stronger than before now that Stiles was sitting next to me. I could only assume it was still on some part of him since he changed his clothes but there was no point in pointing it out to him.

"Figured I'd wait up for you. You took care of everyone else. Instead of asking the stupid question: who takes care of Maggie, I just decided to say screw it and do it myself." He smiled stupidly.

"So I guess you waiting up for me is like your thing now?" I didn't realize how harshly that might have come across until it left my mouth but he just chuckled.

"I mean you waited up for me for almost a decade so I figured it was only fair." He teased. I couldn't help the smile that pull across my mouth and he nudged my arm.

"Can I see?" I cocked my eyebrow at him confused by what it was he wanted to see exactly until he started fiddling with my sleeve. He was talking about my wrists where the large, deep gashes once were but had since healed completely.

"They aren't there anymore Stiles." He tilted his head to the side like he wanted to pry but he wasn't going to make me. I pushed up the sleeve and flipped my arm over for him to look at. He took both of my arms into his hands and ran his thumbs down the lines of my veins.

"Hey, it's over now. They're gone and I'm right here." I whispered until he looked up at me.

"Watching Gerard hurt you, seeing the aftermath of that and watching Peter kill you…I thought that was the hardest thing I ever had to watch because I couldn't' help you. I couldn't save you because I was the weak one." Stiles continued to draw circles into my skin as he confessed what was going on in his head.

"But walking in and seeing you…I thought you were already gone. I thought I was too late, there was too much blood for you to still be alive and there was nothing I could do. You were just gone." I flipped my hands over in Stiles grip and grabbed a hold of his hands.

"But you still tried to save me." I pointed out. Knowing that Stiles thought I was dead and he still tried to bring me back made my heart feel heavy.

"Of course I did. I'll always try to save you Maggie. I don't care what you think of yourself. I don't care if you think you aren't worth saving. All the things you've done…they don't determine you're some sort of lost cause." He tightened the grip on my hands and pulled me closer to him.

"You're worth something to me. I will never stop fighting for you." I closed my eyes for a moment and tried to fight off tears. I was never this emotional when I was with Derek and Isaac searching for Boyd and Erica. Coming back and integrating back into the fold with Scott and Stiles only served to remind me that emotions can be a very dangerous and taxing thing. I leaned forward and rested my forehead against his taking in his scent and feeling his breath against my face. I've been so in love with Stiles for so long now that having weak moments with him was a rarity these days but right here, after going through everything what we did tonight, all I wanted was to tell him I loved him and wanted to be with him.

"I don't know if I'll ever see what you see. Not now. It's too late for me to see what you see in me." Stiles remained leaning against my forehead unmoved.

"I can't do-" Stiles let go of my hands abruptly and I thought he was going to pull away from me but he did the opposite. He gripped the side of my neck and moved his mouth to crash into mine. I stilled for a moment unsure if he knew what he was doing before I started to move my lips in return. I put my hand on his chest and couldn't decide whether I should push him away or pull him in closer so it just hovered lightly over his heart completely torn.

Stiles pulled his lips away and placed his forehead back against mine letting his shaky breaths hit lips, eyes still closed.

"Do me a favor and just shut up." His voice was barely a whisper.

"Whatever your head is telling you to do or say right now, just tell it to hold off until tomorrow. Right now I just want to hold you in my arms okay? Please." I opened my eyes to look at Stiles who had just opened his own to stare back at me. I didn't know what to say. I knew that if the situation was reversed and I had to watch Stiles die, that would end me. I leaned my back against the side of the bus and pulled my legs up to rest across his lap. He scooted up further in the seat so that he could lean against the side of the bus too and pulled me as close as I could until I was resting against his chest. He kissed the top of my head and let out a sigh. I listened to the sound of his heart beat, the fast yet steady beating lulling me to sleep. The truth is, I've always felt safe in Stiles arms. He didn't need to slay my demons or hunt down alphas. He made me feel something that I felt was taking from me a long time ago, something I didn't cherish enough until I lost it. He made me feel human.


	12. Please Don't Say

**[Maggie's POV]**

_I felt the warm sun shining through the wall of windows in the loft, the smell of dryer sheets lingered in the air from the last load of laundry that had been done and folded on Derek's bed and I lay flat on my back, legs crossed staring up at the ceiling of the old building listening to my own heart beat steady. The sound of his boots clicked across the floor just barely before he knelt down in front of me, putting his hand on my forehead and grazing his thumb over my eyebrow. He looked like an angel the way the sun bounced off his back creating a glow behind him. It made me feel safe._

_"It's okay Maggie. I'm right here."_

My eyes opened softly but they weren't met with Derek's. It was bittersweet to only be able to see him in my dreams now and as much as I wanted to get upset, I knew I couldn't. I had to keep it together.

After everything that happened last night, I couldn't afford to lose it again. I tried moving just slightly but Stiles tightened his arm around me, pulling me further into his chest making me put my hand over his heart just to brace myself from falling out of the seat. Everything felt strange. Waking up in his arms with our friends just a few feet away. It all seemed very intimate and oddly comforting. I startled away from Stiles when the doors to the bus opened suddenly and Coach jumped up the stairs silently assessing us for breaking the rules.

"I don't wanna know. I really don't want to know." Stiles jumped snapping his mouth shut and wiping the drool from his chin and glancing over at me self-conscious.

"In case you missed the announcement, the meet is cancelled so we're heading home." Coach stepped back down the stairs and started taking room keys. Scott sat up and stretched his limbs out while Allison and Lydia cracked their necks and rubbed the pains out. Stiles cleared his throat.

"How are you feeling?" He croaked with a slight blush on his cheeks.

"Strange but I'm okay. How about you?" I asked curiously as he rubbed at the back of his neck like he'd gotten kink in it.

"Worst motel I've ever stayed in, zero stars, would not recommend. Yelp will be hearing from me." He joked making me shake my head but reached up and put my hand on the back of his neck making him still. He glanced at the darkness that left my fingertips and ran down my arm causing his eyes to roll back as I drained some of the tension out of his neck. He reached up and put his hand on mine pulling it away and smiling.

"You know part of being a human means little aches and pains. I think I'll be okay." He squeezed my hand before letting it fall onto his knee. I chewed on my lip watching him play with my fingers so that his were laced with my own but I didn't enjoy it for too long as Ethan sat down next to Scott. I was instantly on guard.

"I don't know what happened last night but I'm pretty sure you saved my life." Ethan said looking over at Scott. I hadn't heard anything about Ethan losing it like we did but I wished they hadn't.

"Actually I saved your life." Stiles spoke up.

"What? Why did you do that?" I squinted at him and his eyebrows shot up.

"I mean not that it matters or anything. Just a minor detail." He cringed mouthing a questionable sorry at me but Ethan ignored him.

"I'm going to give you something. We're pretty sure Derek's still alive." Scott's heart spiked as he looked back at us. I wasn't fazed by it though. I wasn't going to get my hopes up based on the enemy's word.

"But he killed one of ours. That means one of two things can happen: either he joins our pack-"

"And he kills his own." Scott finished Ethan's sentence.

"Or Kali goes after him and we kill him." Ethan sat dead faced as he explained the situation to Scott as if we weren't even sitting there.

"And if Derek is really dead? What do you do then?" Stiles was practically vibrating in his seat and I squeezed his hand to calm him. Ethan looked back at me before settling back in the seat.

"Then Maggie will take his place on the chopping block. That's just the way it works." Ethan pushed up from the seat to head back towards Danny as I removed my hand from Stiles and squeezed my hand into a fist to keep myself from ripping Ethan's throat out right then and there.

"Your little code of ethics there is barbaric, just FYI." Stiles shook his head at Ethan and Scott turned his body to look at me.

"Maggie…" I knew Scott could sense it. My anger was building and I was ready to attack but I couldn't. I was trapped in a box with innocent people, people who had no idea what was lurking around in their town. I stood up and Stiles shifted.

"Please don't. We need to get back and make a plan." Scott stood with me and Stiles reached up to grab my wrist.

"Maggie stop!" Stiles hissed seeing the blood I'd drawn in my hand from my claws but when I opened my hand I was able to use my magic to suck the blood back into the wounds and close them almost instantly.

"I'm fine. I just need…I need to bring Isaac and Boyd up here away from him. We need to stick together right?" I convinced seeing Scott and Stiles exchange a look like they were unsure if I was telling the truth but I knew how to hide a lie. Stiles moved out of my way so I could walk to the back and shake Isaac's shoulder. He rubbed his eyes and I gestured for him to follow me.

"HEY! STILINSKI!" I turned around to see Stiles throwing a whistle out of the window and closing it just as the bus started to move. Boyd was already awake and followed without question as I put them a few seats ahead of Scott and Stiles. Lydia and Stiles started to explain how there was Wolfsbane in Coach's whistle but I started to tune them out. I didn't care to know how we'd all gotten so messed up last night. Now I had to focus on taking down the alpha pack without Derek.

"We aren't going to let them hurt you." Boyd said confidently. I tried to focus on anything but the things happening inside the bus. Everyone was talking about what the bigger threat was and Lydia tried to sketch out in her notepad what the Darach looked like while Stiles and Scott guessed what it was but it was pointless. I thought back to the dream of Derek. I'd give anything to live a normal life where I had the luxury of waking up to the sun shining through those giant windows and Derek encouraging me to get up and keep going. I'd give up everything just to have Derek back.

The bus pulled into the lot and Isaac and Boyd were on my tail the moment I exited the bus. None of our phones had battery so there was no one to call.

"Maggie…MAGGIE!" Lydia called after me but I just put my hand up waving her off. I didn't have time to stop and chat. I felt someone take my arm and swing me around suddenly, crowding me against the side of the bus.

"What are you doing?" Scott was in my face, holding my arms up and I just breathed in his apprehension.

"Do you think we're letting you do this alone now that Ethan told us what they have planned?" Scott kept his tone low but Stiles and the others stood behind him.

"Scott I can't-"

"No one else is dying Maggie. Not if we stick together. We're here. All of us. No one is standing behind you unwillingly. We're a pack. Got it? Where you go, we go." Scott bumped my forehead with his own and I let out a shaky breath struggling to keep my emotions in check. Scott let my arms go and I looked at Isaac and Boyd.

"We should go check on Cora. See if anything has changed." They nodded in agreeance.

"I'll give you a ride." Stiles offered.

"My dad is on the way to get us. Call and let us know what our next move is." Allison stepped toward me and I laughed.

"Thank you. I don't even-" She didn't even let me finish before she wrapped her arms around me hugging me tightly. I looked at Scott over her shoulder and he just smiled. She pulled out of the hug and took a step back.

"You aren't alone. Call, please." Allison gave everyone a look before walking towards the school and Lydia followed knowing nothing else needed to be said. The five of us piled into Stiles jeep and headed home. I sat on both Isaac and Boyd's legs squished in-between them.

"So the bigger threat right now is the alpha pack. The Darach is trying to trick us into death while the alpha pack straight up wants to murder us so I think we should take care of them first." Stiles pitched.

"Yeah but how do we do that? We can't kill 4 alphas, one that is a self-proclaimed demon wolf." Isaac pointed out.

"They have to know they can't just kill you though. They know what you are. They know how impossible it is to kill you." Scott said turning back to look at me.

"Deucalion wants me to lose control. If I kill the others, he thinks I'll be too far gone to be saved." I explained.

"So he wants you to go full on Anakin and just destroy everything? That's great." Stiles huffed.

"Not just destroy everything, in the end Darth Vader sacrifices himself to save Luke and that's exactly something Maggie would do." Stiles brake checks the car sending us all jolting forward.

"You know who Anakin is?" He turns around to look at Isaac who pins his eyebrows together.

"Yes?" He answered unsure of why a brake check was needed but Boyd leans up and grabs Scott's seat.

"What the hell are they talking about?" Boyd asked confused.

"You'll have to excuse him. He's having a moment because someone he loathes likes something he is obsessed with." I patted Stiles on the shoulder and he groaned.

"Dammit Isaac. Can't you just sit back there and shut up." Stiles hunched grumpily in his seat and I shook my head with a laugh as we pulled down the driveway. Nathan's truck was home and I felt some relief when he came around the corner of the house, hair tied back and a look of reprieve on his face. Scott let us out of the back and I met Nathan halfway.

"Thank God! Either your phone doesn't work or you're the worst texter on the-" I knocked the air out of Nathan and he laughed.

"What's going on Kid? You were only gone a night." I could hear him whispering to the boys trying to figure out what had happened.

"A lot can happen in a night." I muttered. Nathan led all of us in the front door and Cora spun around. I felt like I got a second wind when I saw her but she stomped towards us and promptly smacked Isaac and Boyd on the head making Scott and Stiles jump back.

"What the hell is wrong with you!? Do you not know how to use a phone?!" She yelled at them.

"And you! You promised to keep in touch! Do you have any idea-"

"We're sorry. Really, the last 24 hours have been insane. You wouldn't even believe me if I tried explaining it to you." I grabbed her hand and she shook her head.

"I've got some time and I'd love to hear about it." I looked over Cora's shoulder and felt my knees grow weak. Derek came around the corner of the living room, hands in his pockets and a soft smile on his face. When my knees buckled, Stiles grabbed me from behind to steady me.

"Scott…can you…can you hear-"

"He's real Maggie. I can hear his heartbeat." Scott said in disbelief. I blinked a few times to truly make sure I wasn't seeing things before pushing off of Stiles and bolting towards Derek, jumping onto his chest and wrapping my arms around his neck as tightly as I could.

"It's okay Maggie. I'm right here." I clutched his shirt and buried my face into his neck. He picked me up off the floor and swung me to the side holding me just as tightly as I cried into his shoulder.

"I dreamed you'd say that. I dreamed it!" I confessed as he rubbed up and down my back. Derek sat me back on my feet but I still hadn't let go of him.

"Hey come on. I'm going to start thinking you missed me or something." Derek teased. He grabbed my face and wiped my tears away.

"Are you okay?" He lowered his tone as if half the room didn't have supernatural hearing.

"I am now." I felt like such a child but I honestly didn't care. I got Derek back and that's all I wanted. Boyd and Isaac stepped towards Derek and gave him a quick pat on the back or a hand shake. Scott didn't care, he pulled Derek into a hug catching him off guard.

"Wow…okay." Derek looked over at Stiles who had his arms crossed over his chest.

"You aren't going to want a hug too are you?" Derek asked making Stiles pat Scott on the back to get him to release Derek.

"No a simple handshake will do it for me. Glad you're alive." Derek grabbed Stiles hand and pulled him in making Stiles trip.

"I thought you didn't want a hug!" Stiles whined but Derek pushed him away.

"Why do you smell like you've been soaking in Maggie's blood and gasoline?" Derek's face grew serious instantly.

"I thought she was just on her period." Cora stepped closer to Stiles taking in his scent while Boyd, Isaac, Scott & Stiles groaned at the mention of menstruation.

"Oh grow up, girls get periods for 40 years and boys stay stupid their whole lives. Get over it." Cora waved her hand around at them.

"I'll tell you everything that happened. I just…I can't believe you're here." I was far too wired now that I knew everyone was okay. Derek continued to rub my back trying to get me to pull it together.

"We should actually head out. Give you guys some time together." Scott spoke up making Stiles eyes grow wide.

"What? No. We can't just leave." Stiles turned to Scott who tried to be coy about giving us space.

"You should really go home and check in with your dad. Maybe get cleaned up and get some actual rest." Stiles looked a bit hurt, ready to argue but Nathan stepped up.

"If you guys aren't busy, why not come back later for dinner? We were going to cook out, celebrate Derek's triumphant return and all that. I guess we can throw in group survival as the main theme." Nathan offered. I walked away from Derek towards Stiles and put my hand on his wrist.

"It's okay. I'll be okay. Go home and get some rest then come back later. We have some things we should talk about." I could feel how uncomfortable everyone was watching the exchange but Stiles just gave me a sad nod.

"Fine. I guess we'll see you guys in a little while. Just try to keep the killing and maiming to a dull roar please." Stiles put his hand on top of mine and I gave his wrist a squeeze. I could feel his resistance even as they all walked out the door together. Isaac looked at me like he was silently asking for permission and I gave him a silent nod of approval to go with Scott. Boyd stays unmoved in the corner keeping his eyes on me walking the boys out.

I could hear Cora and Derek talking as I watched Stiles, Isaac and Scott get into the jeep and pull back up the road almost with a sense of urgency probably to return as quickly as he could.

"You said yourself she's powerful Derek. Why wouldn't she use her abilities?" I squinted reentering the room seeing them arguing already.

"Cora says you teleported?" Derek said incredulously.

"I didn't teleport. It's transprojection. That's not…it was just an advanced spell and it worked. The only real downside was not being able to use my magic for at least 24 hours so I had to rely only on my wolf." I explained still receiving a very displeased look from Derek.

"Scott was hurt. They needed me and it was the only way-" Derek raised his voice as I sat down on the couch.

"I don't care what was happening Maggie, you know how dangerous that magic is. How could you be so reckless?" He took a step towards me but Cora immediately jumped in front of me.

"Hey! Don't yell at her! She was doing what she thought was right to save her best friend!" Cora practically growled at Derek.

"Cora…it's okay." I dismissed Derek's anger mostly because I was still in shock that he was able to actually be angry at me. He could be pissed off. He could be out of his mind with anger but he was still standing here, living and breathing, able to yell at me all he wanted. I was good with that.

"No it's not. We were both really messed up. You couldn't lose anyone else and I wouldn't have let you stay." Cora plopped down next to me and took my hands into her lap. Derek let out a sigh. I imagine seeing how close Cora and I had become in his absence was something different for him.

"I'm not trying to be hard on you Maggie. I'm just trying to protect you. You can't just throw yourself in front of danger because you're emotionally compromised." Cora clicked her tongue to her teeth and was ready to rip into him again but I squeezed her hand to stop her, lifting my gaze to Derek who was staring down at me.

"When I woke up and they told me you were gone, I couldn't…I couldn't even function. You came into my life and forced this family down my throat and now I can't imagine life without you guys. Do you get that? Do you have any idea how much we need you? How much I need you? Like at all?" Derek looked surprised like no one had ever expressed how much he meant to them or at least it had been a long time since anyone had made him feel needed.

Cora reached up and wiped one of my tears away and I rubbed my hands down my face trying to snap out of all the emotions I was feeling.

"The Darach used wolfsbane to try and get us to kill ourselves. It was in Coach's whistle so whenever he blew the whistle, it contaminated the bus. That's why you smell blood and gasoline on Stiles. Scott tried to set himself on fire, Boyd tried to drown himself." Derek and Cora looked over at Boyd who stood with his arms over his chest and his head down now.

"Ethan apparently tried to saw himself in half but Stiles, Lydia and Allison stopped him." Derek moved to the chair across from me.

"And you…did you…" Derek couldn't seem to force the words out of his mouth. The thought of me hurting myself let alone trying to kill myself seemed like something Derek couldn't fathom.

"I kept trying to get in touch with you guys. It felt like I had called you a million times but no one picked up." Nathan had walked back into the room and stood just behind Derek's chair.

"When I finally got through, I saw Kali and Aiden holding Cora and Nathan hostage. They were covered in blood from being beaten and Kali told me that all bets were off. She didn't want to just kill me, she wanted to kill everyone I loved so that I would feel that pain. She wanted me to watch the people I love die because she knows that all of you are my weakness." I sniffled trying to fight back another wave of tears.

"I know now it wasn't real but at the time, under the influence of the wolfsbane, it was real. They killed both of you. I watched the blood pour of your neck." I looked over at Nathan who swallowed hard.

"Right before Kali used my own dagger to stab you in the heart." Cora looked down at the blade that ironically sat on the table where I'd left to protect them if someone were to have shown up.

"I wasn't even dealing with losing you yet, I was done after that. I don't even remember the walk back to the hotel room but I do remember how badly my hands shook as I cut up the backs of my legs and down my forearms before waiting to black out in a bathtub." I could feel the tension fill the room from everyone. Boyd shifted on his feet not having heard the whole story but being equally as stunned with everyone else.

"I remember how warm the water felt on my skin when I first laid down and how just before I passed out I kept thinking that it went from warm to freezing so quickly but it wasn't the water. It was me. I tried to bleed myself out and it almost worked." I looked at Derek again and his face was lax. Almost fearful.

"Lydia used our blood bond to snap me out of it so I could heal and Allison and Stiles tried to stop the bleeding. They saved my life. They saved all of us." I let my eyes drift over to Boyd and watched his eyelashes flutter.

"Ethan warned Scott that the alpha pack was going to come for you again and now that I've seen just how much of a threat this Darach is, I'm honestly not sure what we need to do now. How can we possibly win this war when we're fighting two completely different monsters?" I asked not really expecting an answer.

"You lived to fight another day, Kid. You're all alive and in a few hours you'll all be in one place. For just one night, take advantage of being together and safe." Nathan ran his hand through his hair before throwing his arms out. I got up and walked over to him so I could hug him. I knew he needed it and to be honest, I needed one too. He squeezed me unusually tight and I knew that story was just as hard for him to swallow as it was for Derek.

"You should clean yourself up. Maybe get some rest yourself." Derek cleared his throat and I pulled away from Nathan enough to look at him.

"Derek-" He shook his head at me.

"I'm not going to go anywhere. I just think you should clean yourself up. Get that place off your skin. You can't take care of an entire pack if you don't take care of yourself first." Derek explained making Cora snort.

"Seriously? Who are you and what have you done with my brother?" Cora cocked her eyebrow at Derek and he narrowed his gaze in annoyance.

"There he is." I pointed to his furrowed eyebrows and he tilted his head to the side. I held my hands up and Nathan gave me a nod before I headed towards the stairs.

I felt the wave of exhaustion just entering my room knowing that I could actually lay down and rest for days but I knew that was unrealistic. Nothing looked out of place from when I left and that seemed to comfort me. Everyone was okay and nothing had changed. I sat down on the bed and let out a much needed breath I didn't even realized I'd been holding for so long. My eyes caught the paperwork Stiles had left me and I picked it up to stare at it again. Knowing that Derek was alive actually made me feel like my heart physically had repaired itself a little. I've never felt so relieved in my life like when I saw him standing there smiling. It was like a dream.

I sat the paper back down and picked up the frame that I'd put on its face months ago wiping any dust that had collect on the back so you could see the faces clearly. I ran my fingers over both Scott and Stiles faces smiling in the picture but let my finger linger over Stiles. I was starting to let my guard down again and it was pointless considering what we were still facing.

"Stop." My head jerked up to Boyd's voice as he stood in the doorway, arms crossed over his chest firmly with a stern look on his face.

"He saved our lives last night. He saved your life too. Stop sitting there telling yourself that you can't be with him because of the shit we're going through. It's no longer plausible. You might think he can't handle it but he proved you wrong last night." It was odd to hear Boyd actually taking up for Stiles. He was all for me keeping my head in the game when we got him back. The only other person who wanted to kill the alpha pack more than me was him.

"We're a series of moments, Boyd. Our entire relationship hits these peaks that center on chaos. Leaving when I was a kid and then coming back. Dying and coming back. Leaving again this summer and then coming back. What future could we possible have with a track record like that?" There will always be a part of me that wanted to be normal so I could be with Stiles but that wasn't my reality. This was. Fighting the things that tried to kill me and the people I care about. That's what's real.

"Just the chance that being with me could get him killed is enough to walk away from whatever we might be. It's not fair and it breaks my heart but I just can't take that risk with his life. We've all got burdens to carry and not being able to give him the love he deserves pains me every single day but that pain, that sacrifice is what keeps me strong. Knowing that he is alive is enough." I tried to explain but Boyd finally spoke, voice raw and emotional.

"I heard her voice in that motel room. She came through the alarm clock and I…just hearing her voice again was like a dagger to the heart all over again. I would literally give everything to just be with her again and in that haze, I was ready to die. I've wanted to die every moment that's past being out of that vault without her. I've wanted to die every time my eyes open and I realize that she wasn't just lying in my arms and it was all just a dream. My reality is that the one person I've ever truly been in love with is gone forever and nothing will change that." Boyd dropped his arms from his chest and looked anywhere in the room but at me.

"But that doesn't mean I regret being with her. All this pain is worth the moments I got to have her. Stop treating him like he's a burden just because he cares about you because if something horrible happens to him then that's it, it's over Maggie. You're wasting all this time trying to protect him but life happens every day and he's missing out because he loves you and you won't let yourself love him back." He stepped further into the room and took the picture out of my hands to look at it for a few moments.

"Being with him isn't a death sentence just as much as pushing him away isn't a guarantee that it'll keep him alive. If you…if you love him then nothing else should matter. Stop wasting time trying to control situations you have no control over. You loving him won't save him. It didn't save Erica." I knew he'd have heard my heart skip but it brought our eyes together before setting the photo back on the nightstand. He moved to walk away but I caught his hand holding it in my own so he couldn't just walk away.

"Do you have any idea how important you are to me? I don't know what I'd do without you. I love you." I patted his hand cradling it in my small ones and kissing the back of it.

"I have an idea." He used his free hand to place on the back of my head and for a moment I actually felt small. He leaned down and kissed the top of my head.

"Get a shower and some rest. You know he won't stay away for too long." I dropped Boyd's hand and watched him walk out, closing the door behind himself so I could get cleaned up. It hurt me to know how much pain he was in and the fact that I couldn't change that made it even worse.

I walked into the bathroom and turned the water on in the shower, letting it run as I peeled out of my clothes from last night. I looked my body over in the mirror, running my fingertips over my forearms where the wounds had heeled over. I felt a phantom pain there like some sort of scar tissue had collected underneath the skin. It was just more scars that were buried under the surface that only I could see or feel. I stepped under the hot water and put my arms out to brace myself against the wall letting it roll off my back scalding away the painful memories of last night.

I was alive. We were all alive and together. I didn't have much to hold onto at the moment other than that and Stiles. I closed my eyes and saw his face. I was falling right back into the person I used to be and that terrified me and thrilled me at the same time.

**[Scott's POV]**

I don't think I've ever showered that long in my life. I felt like I could actually take a deep breath in for the first time since the night we thought Derek died and it felt amazing. I looked my side over in the mirror and noticed it had completely healed, no stitches or scars left behind to even show I'd been through the ringer. Werewolf healing had always been a strange thing for me to wrap my head around. I know what happened, I remember the pain and the blood. I remember all the times I'd been clawed or shot or stabbed and how my skin would tear with the muscle and tendons ripping apart putting me into agony I'd never felt before but within a few hours, it was like it never happened. All that was left was the memory of the gore and pain. It made me wonder how many scars we all actually had. The only thing you could never seem to hide was the emotional scars.

I wiped the steam off the mirror and looked myself over. You couldn't see what we'd gone through last night. It wasn't written on my face or skin. It was stuck in my head probably longer than I'd like it to be. For Maggie's sake, I knew I couldn't hold onto it. I had to let it go or else we'd all end up stuck in that night.

I could hear Isaac pacing outside the door for a while now and knew he wouldn't be going anywhere until I came out so I pushed the door open.

"You can come in man. You don't have to pace." I called out to him and heard his heartbeat jump and hesitate.

"You don't smell like you're in pain. I guess that's a good thing." He glanced at my side for a few moments taking in that the wound was fully healed by now.

"I told you I'm fine man. You don't have to worry about me. How are you feeling?" I ran a hand through my wet hair shaking it out as he pushed off the wall to enter the room.

"Stiles didn't tell you? I was too much of a coward to actually do anything, I just hid under the bed. The most I got was rug burn." He extended his arm to look at his elbow as if he was trying to show nonexistent proof of cowardice or something.

"Just because you didn't hurt yourself doesn't mean you weren't mentally and emotionally messed up. It was a rough night for all of us. I still have to call Allison to check-" Isaac cleared his throat.

"I already did. I mean I hope that's cool, I just figured I'd invite her over to Maggie's thing later since we'll all be there. She said no though so." I looked him over and could smell his nervous and guilty energy. He liked Allison.

"No no that's cool. It's probably still too soon for her to want to spend a lot of time celebrating Derek being alive considering." I wasn't sure what exactly I was supposed to do with that information. I mean Allison and I weren't together anymore and Isaac and I were actually quite close but I don't know how I felt about him possibly being with Allison. I get the attraction absolutely but I was torn.

Isaac must have noticed my overthinking because he cleared his throat again to pull me out of my thoughts.

"Do you…do you need anything? I could get you-" I let go of all those thoughts and stepped towards him.

"Isaac, we're good man. Everything is okay. We don't get a lot of days like this so let's just enjoy it okay?" I gripped his shoulder and felt his tension bleed into my hand. He gave me a nod before I let go.

"Now get out of here so I can get dressed. Check the kitchen to see if there is anything we can bring with us." Isaac laughed.

"I already checked. All we have is a few boxes of Mac N' Cheese." Isaac tucked his hands in his pockets.

"That's fine. We should have enough milk and butter for that. Throw it on the stove and I'll be down to help in a minute." Isaac shut the door behind himself and I pulled out fresh underwear and jeans to pull on and sat on my bed to pull on some socks. It was nice to not be overwhelmed by the smell of blood and gasoline anymore. My body was slightly sore from the after effects of the Wolfsbane but it wasn't anything I couldn't handle. It was like having sore muscles after lacrosse practice. It actually made me feel slightly normal.

I pulled on my boots and walked over to the closet to find a shirt to throw on, the smells of the fake cheese from the box lingered up the steps. Everything felt strangely ordinary after everything that had happened the last week. I walked down the stairs just in time to make sure Isaac didn't put the cheese in too soon. We scooped all of the Mac N Cheese into a container and put it in a bag so that we wouldn't lose it on the ride over.

Lydia must have been a few minutes ahead of us because she was just getting out of her car as we pulled up. Derek's car seemed to have stayed unmoved which wasn't a surprise. I could smell both fish and steak grilling along with a variety of vegetables.

"Go ahead, I'll see if she needs help." I gestured for Isaac to head in when I noticed Lydia sorting through something in her backseat. He took the tupperware towards the deck, not even bothering to use the front door when he caught sight of Cora.

"Hey how are you feeling?" I asked her seeing that she didn't have any more bags under her eyes but I would never say that to her.

"After a long lush bath scrub managed to take a layer of skin off of my body, I feel almost human again. Sadly they don't make brain scrubs." Lydia frowned before looking me over.

"How about you? Feeling better?" She touched my side and I smiled hoping to comfort her.

"A lot better than I was. How about Allison? Isaac said he talked to her but she wasn't up for company." Lydia rolled her eyes and grabbed something from the backseat of her car before looping her arm into mine.

"I think you know why she needed some space but I assure you she's doing fine. She's with her dad and they've already recovered her car from the rest stop. It's been a long week, let's just take a breath and enjoy what could be the most interesting, impromptu party ever." I took the bag of food from her free hand and escorted her onto the deck to find Boyd, Cora and Nathan grilling. The doors are open and it sounds like a radio is playing just inside the door.

"Maggie's still upstairs getting dressed. Think you guys could help man the chopping? Cora is too aggressive with a knife and Boyd doesn't take criticism well." Nathan rubbed his hands together asking for help but before I could head inside, Lydia pulled on my arm stopping me.

"I'll go, you should go talk to him." Lydia nodded her head towards the pier where Derek stood with his hands in his pockets staring out at the water. I walked back onto the gravel road towards the pier until I reached the end to stand shoulder to shoulder with him.

"Maggie told me what happened to you. At the rest stop and the motel." Derek cut his eyes over towards me and I looked down embarrassed.

"Yeah it was a crazy 2 days I guess." I put my hands in my pockets enduring the feeling of Derek's gaze on me almost like he was sizing me up or trying to read where my head was at.

"That attack was planned. I pulled you in for help. If something had happened to you then I would carry that guilt but it shouldn't be the other way around. I was the alpha who made the decision to fight a pack of alphas. You can't take on burdens that you couldn't have prevented in the first place." I fought a laugh and he noticed.

"I'm very aware of how all this sounds coming from me but it's important that you know it wasn't your fault." I looked over at his face and could tell he was being serious.

"Maggie told me she had blamed you at first so I'm sure that didn't really help but you see now how much she needs you right? This summer, I learned very quickly how important you and Stiles are to Maggie, not just as far as her friends are concerned but keeping her grounded. You're her anchor to the light and without you guys, she'd let the darkness consume her. You were the only thing keeping her from losing it this whole time and now that she has you back, I can already see some of her light coming back." Derek looked different now that I was really taking a moment to look him over. Whatever he went through after we thought he was dead seemed to have given him some sort of inner peace.

"She can't lose you either. Stiles told me about the paperwork. It's weird to kind of think of you as Maggie's parent or whatever but you're definitely better than Peter." Derek laughed.

"I'm not trying to be her parent. I just want her to know that she's not alone. I want her to feel like she has an adult to turn to." He explained.

"I could feel what she felt when she thought you were gone, Derek. You're a lot more important to her than you think. You're her family and she doesn't have a lot of that anymore. I honestly never thought you two would be as close as you are but I'm kind of glad it worked out that way. You aren't as bad as I thought you were." Derek chuckled at me, shaking his head.

"Yeah you aren't so bad either." He patted my shoulder briefly.

"Thank you for taking care of her out there. Cora told me how much of a wreck she was right after and then to hear that she tried to…" Derek trailed off and cleared his throat. It was hard finding out what Maggie had done to herself but knowing that Derek had basically been raising Maggie this summer, I couldn't imagine what finding out something like that would make him feel. I hadn't even told my mom about what happened knowing she'd lose it.

"It's what we do. All of this, it's more than pack now. It's family. We watch out for each other." I explained seeing a proud smile spread across Derek's face as he pocketed his hands.

"Things are going to get really bad, aren't they? Not just with the Darach but with the alpha pack too." Derek's smile quickly faded and he let out a sigh.

"Yeah they are but not tonight. Tonight things are going to be okay." Derek met my gaze and I nodded my head agreeing with him.

When I first met Derek, I couldn't understand him. Maggie had gone through hell just like he had but Maggie seemed like such a better person but now I realized I read him completely wrong. I'm not an alpha and yet I feel that weight that Derek talks about. The weight of keeping a family safe and alive, keeping innocent people from getting hurt in the process and making sure not to lose yourself in all of that pain. I felt that so strongly.

Stiles jeep barreled down the back road loudly and Derek shook his head watching him jolt to a stop.

"Do you think as Maggie's provisional parent I can keep her from ending up with...that?" Stiles stumbled getting out of the jeep not helping his case at all but I tried not to laugh out loud.

"Honestly? I don't think anything is going to stop that from happening at least I hope not. I don't know, I kind of think they deserve each other." I tilted my head staring at my best friend as he held a bowl above his head.

"I brought salad. It was the fastest thing I could come up with in such a short window so deal with it." Derek snorted.

"Oh god...what have I gotten myself into." Derek walked back towards the house as Stiles started towards the pier, passing by him and making him shake his head one last time.

"What? People eat salad." Stiles defended looking at his salad.

"Sure they do buddy. Let's go see if they need help with anything else." I put my arm around his shoulders and he looked me over carefully. The way he flared his nostrils, I knew he was making sure I no longer smelled of gasoline.

Everyone greeted us as we walked into the house and Lydia instantly went in on Stiles for bringing a salad with no dressing. Cora was sitting holding the salt and pepper shakers ready to season whatever Nathan was preparing while Derek manned the grill with Boyd to his left and Isaac held a plate of chopped veggies to his right. For the first time, I feel like I could feel what Maggie felt when she was with all of us. It was a different kind of united. We were a mixed bag, two different packs but one big family. I felt like we could anything.

**[Stiles POV]**

After getting grilled for 20 minutes about bringing an undressed salad to a cookout by Lydia, I somehow managed to escape to go check on Maggie. I climbed the stairs feeling the weight of the note Lydia had given me on the bus slowing me down. I still hadn't gotten the courage to read it. If Maggie had written a letter with the intention of never seeing me again, I was afraid of what it would say.

Maggie's door was cracked and I could see her smoothing out a familiar dress in the mirror looking as though she was reconsidering keeping it on.

"I remember that dress." I spoke catching her eye in the mirror.

"Yeah? What do you remember about it?" She asked keeping her back to me. I took that as permission to enter the room.

"I remember when you lived with us and everyone thought we were hooking up because I let you wear my clothes to school." Maggie laughed.

"Yeah and you broke into my house because Scott made you feel bad about enjoying that kind of attention." I shook my head.

"No I broke into your house because I wanted you to have something of your own. All the crap that was going on at the time and we couldn't control anything. I wanted to make you happy." She smiled at me and finally turned to face me.

"I think I even fractured my hand a little that night but it was worth it to see how beautiful you looked in that dress." Maggie walked towards the bed.

"I remember how Lizzy put you on the spot and made you call me beautiful. You blushed so bad I thought you might explode." She walked back over to her closet and pulled out a more casual shirt and pair of jeans.

"Lizzy didn't make me call you beautiful. She just gave me a push. Besides, you've never needed me to tell you you're beautiful." Maggie pulled on her jeans with the dress still on as I stood there clearly invading what should be a private moment to change her outfit but I didn't feel like she considered me an intrusion.

"What ever happened to Lizzy?" Maggie looked over at me and I cleared my throat.

"Her dad was killed this summer in a traffic accident. Her mom was 6 months pregnant so she had to move east so her sister could help her out. Sadly, enough it was probably the most normal death in Beacon Hills in forever." Maggie's face had fallen and she reached.

"I had no idea. I'm so sorry." I looked down at her hand and I felt myself get randomly nervous.

"Don't worry about it, you had a lot going on this summer." Maggie's hand started to slip away and I realized how that sounded.

"I wasn't trying to make you feel bad, I just know that you were dealing with important things. I know that now more than ever." I brought my hand up to keep hers on my forearm and she looked up at me.

"I'm just sorry about everything that happened this summer. I'm sorry I wasn't here for a lot of things." She held my gaze and I licked my lips.

"Me too. I think we've both got a lot of regrets but the good news is we've got time to work on it." Her eyes changed almost instantly looking shameful as she started to pull her hand out of my grasp.

"Stiles, I know there's a lot we need to talk about but right now I think we should just put it on hold. Crazy things have happened the last few months and you deserve that conversation but I wanted tonight to be about all of us together. I don't see us having more nights like this for a while." Maggie took a step back from me and I shook my head and tried not to show my disappointment.

"Yeah sure. Whatever you want to do." It was hard to keep my tone from giving away that I was completely disenchanted.

"Stiles please." She took the step back towards me but I didn't want to look at her face and seem like her wanting to spend time with her family and friends after what we'd all been through was somehow putting me out.

Isaac walked in and paused stopping short seeing how close we were standing.

"Um hey…Nathan said to tell you this is a casual event so you've spent enough time avoiding setting the table." Isaac was eating carrots out of his hand and I silently hoped he'd choke on one just so we could finish our conversation.

"I'm coming down now." She picked the dress up from the floor and hung it up on a hanger before turning back to me.

"I promise we'll talk later tonight. You have my word." She gave my arm a squeeze and I nodded at her. There wasn't much I could do right now. I didn't want to be the downer at the party but the more I sat and thought about it, the more I wanted to freak out. I had kissed her not even 24 hours ago and we still hadn't talked about it. I was terrified that if that talk was pushed off for too long she would have enough time to talk herself out of anything that we could possibly be.

I sat down in the living room and watched her move about the kitchen with Lydia and Isaac as if it was an everyday occurrence. She laughed and joked with everyone like we didn't just have one of the worst nights on record just yesterday. I laughed when Lydia teased Maggie about wearing an apron and kissed her cheek. It would never not baffle me how close those two had gotten. It was nice though. I'd rather the two of them be this close than at each other's throats. Apart, they were two of the most intelligent people I'd ever met but together it was like they were a world wonder.

"Would you die for her?" I snapped out of my thoughts realizing Boyd had sat down across from me and was staring at me as if he was ready to sentence me to death or something.

"Um…I'm sorry what?" I had been too caught up in staring at Maggie to even catch what he'd said I just heard something about death.

"You compare what you felt the night Peter killed Maggie to what I feel after losing Erica so I ask you, would you die for her?" I turned my body a bit towards Boyd so he knew I was actually paying attention to him now.

"At this point, I honestly don't think there's anything I wouldn't do for her man." I confessed clasping my hands together.

"Anyone can say that but this life is more than just fighting for her. Saying you'd do anything for her doesn't just mean standing in front of something that's trying to hurt her. It's killing for her too. It's going places you never thought you'd go within yourself." Boyd explained and I wondered just how far he'd gone for Erica, just how far he's gone for Maggie or Derek. I looked back over towards Maggie and she was fixing the napkins neatly on the table focusing on making it look as perfectly delicate as she could.

"Because she's the only thing that matters, the only thing that makes sense. Maggie is one of the only things I have left in this world, I'd set myself on fire to keep her warm if I had to. Love isn't always easy. It can ruin your life in the best way. Ask yourself if you're truly ready for that." I looked back to Boyd with even more admiration than before. He was more than a friend to Maggie, he was a protector. In a game of chess, he'd be a knight without question and I appreciate that.

"Thanks man." His eyes scanned me for a moment.

"For some reason, she's picked you to fall for so if you hurt her, I won't hesitate to rip your spine out of your throat. Make sure you keep that in mind." Clearly he'd spent way too much time around Derek with a threat like that but I wasn't surprised. Family is family. I'd be the same way.

"Loud and clear big guy. Loud and clear." Boyd didn't stick around after that to do much chit chatting but I stayed sitting, creepily watching him assist Maggie in moving the tables to accommodate so many of us.

"And you say I'm the creepy one." I jumped clutching my chest as Derek came around the back of the chair with a beer in his hand.

"You aren't here to threaten me too are you because I'm about 85% sure Maggie's just going to end up blowing me off anyway so I don't think you have much to worry about." Derek sat down where Boyd once sat and set his beer on the coaster. It was so weird to see him drinking. Surrounded by supernatural creatures and the weirdest thing I'd seen lately was Derek drinking a beer.

"I know you wouldn't hurt Maggie like that. Boyd is just overprotective." I narrowed my eyebrows at him.

"I thought werewolves couldn't get drunk? What's happening here?" I questioned pointing at the beer.

"I'm not drunk. I've just watched you two do this dance for over a year now. I think you've both grown a lot. I'm actually rooting for you two." I leaned back in shock.

"You are?" I was starting to become concerned that Derek had been body snatched.

"Better you than someone I don't know. I actually wanted to thank you for what you did for Maggie. Cora told me how you took care of her when she was out of it and Lydia informed me it was you who brought her out of what happened at the hotel." It was strange that people were giving me some sort of credit for taking care of Maggie when I wouldn't ever hesitate to make sure she was okay.

"Honestly, it was a group effort when we thought you were dead and Lydia was the one that saved Maggie. She just prefers not to talk about their connection, mostly because I don't even think she understands it fully and doesn't like being wrong." Derek rolled his eyes.

"8 months ago you wouldn't have been this modest. As a matter of fact, you'd make sure I knew just how you saved the day." Derek laughed.

"A lot can change in 8 months. I've never taken care of Maggie for some sort of prize." I defended but Derek just smiled at me.

"I know why you take care of her, Stiles. Like I said, I hope it works out for you both." It was strange to think that after all this time, Derek was actually rooting for Maggie and me to work out. Most days I thought he hated me but he seemed to be sincere.

"You two have avoided helping long enough." Maggie extended her hands to the both of us and Derek and I gave each other one more look before simultaneously grabbing her hands and letting her pull us to our feet. Derek let go once he had his beer but I held on for a few extra moments making Maggie smile. She led me to the kitchen where everyone proceeded to give me shit for trying to get out of helping.

"To be fair, I've probably been living off of frozen food for a while now so consider me trying to do you all a favor." Maggie pulled me over towards the chopping board and laughed.

"I go away for a little while and your healthy kick goes out the window? I'm disappointed." I smirked catching the cucumber she tossed at me.

"I didn't say I wasn't forcing my dad to eat healthy, I'm just eating pizza pockets to conserve the healthy stuff for the guy with the bad cholesterol." Maggie had grabbed a green pepper and started chopping next to me, close enough that our arms would brush.

"That salad you brought was awful. Where did you even get that?" She laughed dicing a few onions to toss into the greenery.

"If we're being honest it was in the back of the fridge, I don't even know how old it is." Maggie's jaw dropped and she jostled my arms with hers. I started to feel the tension leave my shoulders and finally start enjoying myself. Scott joined us at the counter and I started tossing cherry tomatoes into his mouth until Cora smacked the both of us in the back of the head for eating all of the cherry tomatoes. I overheard Derek, Boyd and Nathan talking about Nathan's time at sea and how weird it felt to be on land this long.

"I thought about joining the Navy once." Boyd offered.

"Don't waste your talents in the Navy. You're built like a badass Marine man. Don't sell yourself short." Nathan patted Boyd's shoulder and Boyd actually chuckled.

"A werewolf Marine? It sounds like a superhero." Derek commented making me turn around.

"I would read the hell out of that comic book." Somehow I managed to do the unthinkable. I made all three of them laugh. I can't lie, I was kind of proud of myself.

"I think it's pretty sad that it takes three of you to make a salad." Cora leaned on the counter.

"I think it's pretty sad that Scott thinks that much cheese goes into a salad. What are you even doing?" Lydia snatched the block of cheddar from him making him frown.

"I like cheese." Scott said pitifully making us laugh.

"Alright, if these are up to Lydia's par then we're ready to eat." Nathan brought a plate with both salmon and steak on it for her to inspect before giving him an approving nod.

We all walked towards the table carrying a bowl of some sort. Maggie grabbed a handful of spoons for the dishes and an entire roll of napkins. Cora and Boyd started shoveling ice into glasses for everyone to place at their seat. There was only one chair at the head of the table and four on either side. Nathan took the head of the table and Derek surprisingly sat to his left with Boyd, Lydia and Maggie. I sat in across from Maggie with Scott to my left, Cora to his and Isaac next to Nathan's other side. Something tells me Isaac drew the short straw because he gave Nathan a strange look and Nathan groaned inwardly. Maggie walked around the table handing out napkins to everyone before settling some next to my hand.

"Everyone got what they need?" She asked hands on her hips looking around.

"I think you can sit Kid. Your work is done here." Nathan gestured to her chair. She leaned across the table keeping her eyes on be before lifting her finger towards the candles that sat in the center of the table unlit. I watched her intently as she lit them with just her magic. I chuckled at how cool it was to see her use her magic for such mundane things. She blushed slightly before plopping down in front of me.

"I guess since I kind of own this place, I should thank you guys for hanging out today. From what I've heard, the last few days have been…beyond normal people limits but let's not dwell on that. I just appreciate you guys coming out." Derek held his glass up to Nathan's and gave it a clink and we all followed his lead.

"I actually remember the last time we did one of these." A pause filled the table knowing that Erica wasn't missing by choice.

"Despite missing a face, we've gained some new ones and that kind of means everything to me." Lydia put her hand on Maggie's and squeezed making Maggie lean into her side.

"She may not be sitting here but she's all around us." Boyd spoke up letting his gaze linger out the window as a breeze blew the curtains away from the kitchen window. It caught everyone's eye and Maggie let out a heavy sigh.

"Do you remember how pissed off Erica got because you kept bugging her to help us cook?" Isaac looked across the table at Boyd and he grunted.

"Yeah she kept pinching me because I told her she was a diva for not wanting to clean the fish she was going to eat." Derek smiled at the story.

"She was my favorite." Nathan admitted but Maggie snorted.

"Only because she said you looked like Jack Sparrow." The table got a good laugh and Nathan pulled a face, tucking his hair behind his ears.

"All of you are hooligans." Nathan took a sip of his beer only making us laugh harder at his expense. The conversation stayed pretty light and friendly. I learned that Maggie had actually gotten Derek to dance on her birthday thanks to the record player Peter bought her. I caught Derek rolling his eyes behind his beer bottle as Maggie explained why Peter got her the record player and Cora wasted no time putting him to shame with how he's only ever done one good deed in his life. Boyd shared the story of what he first thought of Maggie when she moved back to Beacon Hills and Isaac caught an elbow from Scott when he said he just thought Maggie was hot.

"Lock it down curly sue." Nathan threatened Isaac waving his steak knife in the air. The entire table proceeded to roast Isaac which was indeed a highlight for me but my attention snapped out of Derek's story when I felt Maggie's foot brush the leg of my jeans. I looked over at her and she was smiling at me. I returned it trying not to be completely obvious.

I actually lost track of time as we progressed from eating to cleaning up and dancing on the deck. Cora had insisted on playing an old record that Derek had given Maggie that she'd heard a lot around their house as a kid. Somehow that got people on their feet. I think the only person that could have gotten Boyd to actually dance would be Cora with how persistent she was. Maggie pulled Isaac over towards them with Lydia's hand in hers and the three of them swung each other around. Derek and Nathan had bowed out after cleanup was taken care of, heading down the path towards the tavern. I hadn't actually been inside while there were patrons but I hear it's doing well. At least that's what I hear around the Sheriff's station.

"Hey." Scott nudged my arm.

"Hey." I kept my eyes on Maggie as she interrupted Boyd and Cora so they could all dance together.

"Kinda crazy we can all just get together like this right? I don't think I've had a day this normal since being bitten." Scott smiled trying not to laugh as Isaac tripped over his feet.

"Tell me about it. I can't help but get that churning feeling in my stomach though like it's the calm before the storm, you know?" I admitted wincing.

"Kind of a perfect time to put yourself out there with Maggie then." I looked over at Scott who has been side eyeing me.

"Haven't I done that…like three times already? Last I checked, I've been turned down…repeatedly." I narrowed my eyes at him shocked that he was actually suggesting I push at a time like this. We were to face certain doom, who knows how soon and Scott thought it was an opportune time to give it another shot at embarrassing myself.

"However this stuff pans out, do you really want it to end like this? If it's not worth the leap then don't take it but something tells me no matter what's going on with you two, you'll always leap." I rolled my eyes looking back at Maggie leaning her head on Boyd's chest and laughing.

"You make me sound really pathetic Scotty but thanks. I appreciate the advice." I clapped my hand on his back. He got a call a few moments later and instead of continuing to be a creeper and stare at them having fun, I walked back up to Maggie's room. She'd put her pictures back up right and I couldn't help but get lost in those memories all over again.

Going back to the night where we laid in her bed, holding one another and kissing felt so right. It felt like the beginning of something amazing and it all came to a screeching halt so quickly it gave me anxiety to even think about it again. However these framed memories only brought happiness. These were truly happy times. Being young and stupid to all of the supernatural, not knowing truly what the pain of loss felt like, just being together and being kids. I ran my hand over the walkie talkie and wished I was one of those drunks that couldn't remember anything about the crazy things they did while intoxicated but I remember every single stupid thing I said into the stupid thing.

"I was listening that night you cussed me out." I jumped to see Maggie had not only walked into the room but shut the door behind herself.

"Jesus…I'm going to need to get you a bell or something." If the supernatural creatures didn't kill me then a heart attack would with the amount of times they all sneak up on me.

"You've told me that you loved me three times, did you know that?" I licked my lips as she took a few steps into my orbit as I moved towards the window.

"I'm sure it's been more than that." I said pretty unsure of the actual number but she shook her head indicating that I was wrong.

"Once when I gave myself up to Gerard, once after we settled things with the kanima and once when you called my voicemail over the summer. I mean there have been others but I try not to count all the times where I've almost been killed. That would just be way too many to count. Only those three times are what made me realize." I tilted my head to the side.

"Realize what?" I questioned.

"The first time I passed it over as you being desperate. The guilt from leaving me behind when you knew what they were capable of was going to crush you. I know sometimes it still does. The second I chalked up to relief. I'd already died once and been tortured so all promises of keeping me safe were sort of off the table at that point but you never stopped trying." I swallowed the lump in my throat as she stopped about a foot away from me, picking up the walkie talkie.

"The third time when you said you wished you'd never fallen in love with me…you saying you regretted it, that's when I knew you meant it. I knew you meant it because for the longest time that's what loving you always felt like." Maggie's eyes fluttered a bit and she let a tear fall freely without shame.

"Since I was a little girl I'd wished that I didn't feel this strong pull towards you. It's just so overwhelming all the time no matter what I did to try and stop that feeling. Sometimes I think if I could stop, I would because it's so overpowering to me sometimes it hurts." Her voice cracked and she put her hand on her chest.

"You've seen what happens around me. You've seen what happens to the people I love and honestly I've been broken for so long, I'm terrified of what I would do to the world if something happened to you because of me." I wanted to reach out and grab her but I was feeling unsteady myself. She was being so vulnerable right now, I didn't want her to think I was going to try and rush in to somehow make it all better because she didn't need me. She was strong on her own.

"Everyone keeps telling me that I'm not saving you from anything. I'm only missing out on what we could be but what if we've built this up into something and it burns out fast? What if what we thought was something epic isn't really epic at all?" She questioned biting her lip. I walked towards the window and took a deep breath before starting.

"When you were gone, I drove myself crazy thinking about what I had done wrong or why you didn't feel like I was important enough to stick around for." I turned my body away from the window and looked at her, arms wrapped around her body like she was preparing for the worst.

"And yeah I was angry but that doesn't mean I didn't miss you every day." I took a step back towards her and she held a sad smile.

"We're years in the making Maggie. You and me…we are an epic story. You keep asking me to stay away, to stop loving you but I can't. I won't." I put my hands on her arms and could feel she was shaking slightly.

"I know what I said but I was wrong. I'm not sorry I fell in love with you. I'll never be sorry because loving you has made me stronger. Loving you is a part of who I am as a person and without it, I feel empty. It's made me feel more alive than I've ever felt and I refuse to let go of that feeling." Her thumb caught the top of my hand and I stilled my hands on her skin.

"I'm just…I'm scared. You deserve so much better than me Stiles. You have to know that." I stepped in closer making her lift her head to look at me.

"I don't care about what you think I deserve. Just because you feel like you're some awful person doesn't mean I do. I think you're amazing Maggie. I think the world of you and it's not about what I deserve. It's about what I want and that's you." Her lip trembled as she stared up at me and as much as I wanted to kiss her, I could see the uncertainty in her eyes. I let go of her face and took two large steps away from her with my hands up.

"I love you Maggie. I'm in love with you but if you aren't ready to love me back. If you aren't ready for us to love one another then I will walk away. I will give you the space you need as hard as it may be, I'll wait for you. I will always wait for you." I walked towards the door unable to look at her for much longer without completely losing it but the moment my hand touched the knob, she spoke.

"Stiles…" My name always sounded so much sweeter when it came out of her mouth. I turned back towards her and she had her hands clenched at her side. She practically sprinted towards me and gave me just enough time to turn around fully to catch her as she collided into me knocking me back into the door and jerking my head to hers. Her lips were frantic against mine and I couldn't move my lips fast enough to keep up until I ran my hands down her back far enough down until I could pick her up off her feet. She squeaked into my mouth but used it as an opportunity to fully wrap her arms around my neck to hold onto me. She groaned when I palmed her ass more firmly making sure I could keep her off the ground without dropping her and completely killing the moment. I knew my body was too pumped up with adrenaline to actually drop her but I was afraid my arms would do something spastic so I carried her across the room and placed her on top of her desk knocking over a handful of things that made her laugh against my lips.

Now that she was sitting, my hands were kind of in territory they'd never been in before and I didn't want to cross any lines.

"Is this okay? Can I put my hands-" She cut me off still keeping her lips against mine.

"Your hands are perfect. Feel free to explore some more." I pushed her legs further apart so I could step fully between them. I let my fingers explore underneath of her shirt to the skin around her bra. I almost felt like my hands were burning with every bit of new skin I was able to touch and I wondered if she'd let me remove her bra. Just the thought was making me hard.

"Should we be doing this in a house full of werewolves? I mean I don't want to stop but I also don't want Derek to flay me either." Maggie pulled at my bottom lip moving her hand up the back of my neck to grip my hair.

"The room is warded. Not even werewolves know what's happening in here so I'd say we're safe." I felt my body relax knowing at least I was safe from being mauled while having a boner.

"Oh thank God because all I want to do is keep kissing you and touching you." I moved my hips trying to get closer to her and Maggie had moved her hips at the same time making us both create such an amazing friction that we both moaned out loud. So loud in fact neither of us heard the knock on the door.

"Knock knock, we're all about to—OH wow…well that's…that's happening. Glad to see you two finally figured things out." I froze completely and Maggie squeezed her legs around me tighter at the intrusion. There was an awkward pause that was quickly starting to murder me on the inside.

"Yeah man did you need something?" I had to stop his rambling before I tried to fight him with a raging hard on for interrupting us yet again.

"We were just about to head out…damn everything is just so strong in here. I'm like suffocating on Stiles-"

"We'll be down in a second Isaac." Thankfully Maggie dismissed Isaac before he could finish that sentence.

I heard the click of the door as he whispered apologies while snickering his way back out and I slumped my body against Maggie's resting my head on her shoulder.

"Please tell me you were lying just to get him to leave and we don't actually have to go downstairs because I'm a bit…vertical right now." Maggie let out a laugh that was so pure that I had to lift my head to see it for myself. I hadn't heard that laugh in such a long time.

"Oh my God, what are you doing to me?" She covered her face with her hands and I pulled on her wrists so I could look at her face wanting to savor the moment.

"Seeing as how you kissed me, I think the better question is are we really going to give this a try or did you just have a really weak moment? No pressure, I still…I won't rush you into something." Maggie put her palms flat on my chest and smiled.

"Let's go downstairs and say goodbye to everyone and then we'll get back to talking about where to go from here." I paid attention to the way Maggie phrased herself. She couldn't possibly want to back pedal now right?

"Like as in where we're going to go…together?" Maggie smiled at me.

"Yeah. Together." She leaned up from the desk and kissed me so softly I barely felt her lips on mine. Kissing wasn't helping my current situation so I sadly had to pull away.

"You should…go downstairs…give me a few minutes to talk this down." Maggie shook her head and I backed up so she could jump off the desk and straighten herself out.

"I'll try and buy you some time to fix…that." Maggie ran out of the door trying to fix her hair in the mirror before shutting the door behind herself leaving me to stand in her room alone. I took a second to realize what had just happened before silently freaking out. We just made out…we even dry humped a little but the important part is that she was ready to talk about there being an us and that alone made my stomach jump with excitement. Now I just had to get rid of this boner so I could get downstairs and run all of our friends away.

**[Derek's POV]**

The moment Maggie started making people dance, I took Nathan up on his offer of a real drink down at his tavern. It was surprisingly pretty nice inside. Something about the hanging lanterns made me think Maggie had a hand in decorating.

"This is a lot nicer than I expected it to be." Nathan chuckled.

"Yeah well I let Maggie take over the decorating after she pretty much roasted me about having mismatched drapes. You've seen the house, I mean most of the things I owned we're from all over so it's not like I had time to pick up on home decor. She did a great job though. She says it's a Hale gift apparently." I couldn't help but smirk remembering how much Maggie made fun of me when we started decorating the loft.

"Yeah she's got an eye for detail." Nathan poured me a whiskey and slid it across the bar before grabbing himself one and waving me back towards what looked to be an office. Something told me he wanted to have a serious conversation but I wasn't sure what it would be about. I'm sure there was a number of things he could want to talk about considering how this week has gone.

"Something tells me you want to have a serious conversation." I joked but Nathan paced behind the desk draining his glass.

"If this about Maggie knowing about the papers-"

"Look man, I get that this is a bizarre set up we got going on and wolves are all about bloodlines and such but you just died a few days ago. She was completely broken when she thought you were gone. I didn't think she was going to pull out of that." I swallowed that truth as he continued to pace.

"Those kids...they shouldn't have to go through this shit but they do and when they take hits like this it destroys them. We're supposed to be protecting them from things and losing you crushed her. What am I supposed to do with that? How am I supposed to feel about that?" I wasn't sure if Nathan was pissed at me for almost dying or just pissed at the situation in general.

"What exactly are you getting at here?" I finally asked.

"You can't take her. She's not...she's not safe with you." Nathan stopped pacing and looked at me almost like he was disappointed. It was a low blow to hear that he thought she wasn't safe with me but it was a true observation. One I thought many times but to hear someone else say it kind of stung.

"Nathan, I-"

"I let you take her for months and I thought I was doing the right thing but I'm not so sure of that anymore. She's hurting all the time and doesn't think anyone can see it." Nathan looked extremely defensive and stressed out. I didn't stop to think of what all this might have done to him. Especially with Maggie being gone for so long.

"I made Karen a promise, man. I know how much Maggie loves you and I don't want to have to break her heart any more than it already has been but if I have to take you to court I will. I just want to do what's best for her. I want to protect her from-" I remembered what Jennifer had said about Maggie the other night and smiled to myself before finally cutting Nathan off.

"I'm not going to take you to court Nathan. I think its best she stays here with you." Nathan pulled back immediately surprised.

"Seriously? Are you messing with me?" Nathan asked unsure if he should still try and fight me.

"No I honestly feel like it does her good to live here with you. You support her on another level. She gets some small piece of normal here." I gestured around downing my drink and putting the glass on his desk. Nathan remained speechless.

"I know you think you aren't doing much for her but you are. I have that same feeling when she's with me too. She's just really strong. You give her something I could never give her and I appreciate that." Nathan cocked his eyebrow at me trying to figure me out but I was being earnest.

"Wow I'm sorry. I was totally preparing myself to tell you to go to hell and at least make one swipe at your medium v-cut shirts." I chuckled shaking my head.

"Considering you've got the hair of a hippie, I'd leave my attire out of this." I leaned back in the chair and felt his eyes kind of scanning me awkwardly. They went wide like he'd just had a realization.

"Oh my God…you've gotten laid. I don't know how in the last 72 hours you managed to come back from the dead and get laid but it's all over your face. You totally got laid." My phone vibrated in my pocket at the worst time and I quickly tried to cover.

"I'm pretty sure that's crossing some lines. Let's not ruin our mutual respect." I stood from the chair and grabbed the empty glass ready to change the subject.

"If we were friends, I think I'd congratulate you but the feminist, pseudo father of a girl in me thinks that's pretty bro-gross so just know in my head, I salute you on exploring sexual outlets." He smiled smugly at me.

"Please just shut up and pour me a drink." We walked back out of his office towards the bar so he could pour me another drink. He stayed behind the bar to grab himself a beer when the door opened and in walked a smiling Jennifer. Hair down, dark jeans and dark blouse looking surprisingly casual. I put my hand up at her and she crossed the room with a blush.

"Are you kidding me..." Nathan whispered as she tucked her hair behind her ear.

"Hi, I'm Jennifer." She reached her hand out across the bar and Nathan shook it.

"Yeah I know who you are. I'm Nathan." He looked over at me as I sipped my drink quietly.

"I take it Maggie doesn't know about...your after school curriculum." Nathan teased.

"No and I'd actually prefer to keep it that way. I'm only part time right now and things are already complicated enough around here." Jennifer asked and Nathan cut his eyes at me.

"Fine by me but if she finds out then it better not come back that I know anything." Nathan downed his drink and I nodded my head at him in thanks.

"You two have a good night. I need to find myself an evening tutor." He took a handful of beers towards a table full of ladies and I laughed to myself.

"How did it go? Everyone happy you're alive and well?" She put her hand on my shoulder and I wrapped my arm around her waist. It felt nice to have someone that cared about my family.

"Yeah they were pretty relieved. They had a rough time so I figured I'd let them have the rest of the night to decompress." I explained making her smile. She had a nice smile.

"Well isn't that nice of you. Maybe I can help you decompress back at my place." She leaned in and kissed me lightly running her tongue along my lip no doubt tasting the whiskey.

"I like that plan." I got up from the stool and put a twenty in Nathan's tip jar just for good measure before letting Jennifer take my hand into hers. Cora had my keys and I could see she'd already taken off so it wasn't a problem. The resistance from stopping to look back up towards the house made Jennifer stop and look at me.

"You know, I do want to tell them eventually. They're the most important people in my life, they should know." She smiled at me with an understanding nod.

"When you're ready, we can tell them together." She kissed me once more before pulling me towards her car again. I glanced back at the house and saw Maggie standing on the dock, moonlight shining on her face just enough for me to see her smiling.

Today was a good day. Today we were allowed to be a whole, happy family. Tomorrow would challenge us but I think we are ready to face whatever it may bring, as a family.


	13. Only One

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Authors Note: I AM ALIVE! I'm the worst but I'm alive. My deepest apologies for taking SO LONG to update this story. I appreciate all those who waited so patiently for me to get my stuff together but I assure you it wasn't just because I was screwing off. I've been taking steps in getting help with my mental health issues and I just couldn't focus long enough to finish this VERY IMPORTANT chapter. This is a E Rated chapter so consider this a heads up. I look forward to hearing what you all think and I hope you had a wonderful, safe holiday.

**[Maggie's POV]**

My body felt like it was catching a chill. I wasn't sure if it was because of the night air coming off the water or the goose bumps Stiles had left me with. I pressed my lips together trying to keep my grin at bay but it was no use. He'd gotten to me.

"You better be careful, someone might think you're enjoying yourself." Boyd teased walking towards me, hands in his pockets.

"I always enjoy spending time with you guys especially if we aren't running for our lives covered in blood." Boyd just shook his head at me like he had a secret. Before I could even ask what he was smirking about, Isaac walked in looking completely exhausted.

"You going to be okay if we go ahead and head out?" I reached up and brushed a random curl off his face watching his eyes flutter a bit from exhaustion.

"Yeah I'm pretty wiped. We should all try and get some sleep." I waved towards the stairs and Boyd couldn't hide a snort this time.

"Yeah I'm sure that's what you'll be doing." I cut my eyes at him.

"I don't know what you're insinuating but if you'd like to say something, I suggest you speak up." I crossed my arms over my chest defensively.

"We've both had the misfortune of walking in on you and Stiles tonight." I don't remember the last time I actually blushed but I knew there was no way I could come up with any defense that wouldn't make this worse.

"Which will probably scar me forever by the way. Thanks for that permanent indigestion." I shoved Isaac playfully trying to hide my embarrassment.

"It was just a kiss. He kind of saved my life so I owed him at least that much." They exchanged a look that seemed to be one of annoyance but Boyd put his hand on my shoulder trying to pull some of the tension that resided there.

"Maggie, it's okay. You know you don't have to be the protector all the time. I know you will never stop trying to protect all of us but if you only get this one night, don't let it slip away. Make it count." Boyd was being sincere but being open to what I was feeling was terrifying for me.

"You've got to let yourself have something, Maggie. You deserve it." I looked from Boyd to Isaac and felt the true, unwavering love and support from them that even in the toughest of times has always comforted me. I reached out to both of them and put my hand on their faces giving them a small smile before pulling them in for a hug.

"Just try to go easy on him. Don't go snapping Stilinski's leg trying to get your freak on because there's no coming back from that." I clicked my tongue against my teeth pulling out of the hug and pointing a finger at Boyd's chest.

"You're being a real brat, Vernon and I don't particularly like it." The two of them laughed at me.

"I'm gonna grab Cora." Isaac shoved his hands in his pockets before Boyd let out a heavy sigh.

"You know why I'm protective of you?" Boyd followed me out to the patio where the lights beamed on the deck keeping the house lit up.

"Is there more of a reason than just me being your favorite?" I smiled but he dropped his head.

"That night at the motel, I heard Erica's voice on the radio but it wasn't what screwed me up the most. I saw...I saw my sister. When I was a kid, we went ice skating down on Riggins Pond and I got really tired. She wanted to keep skating but I was just...I was just too tired." I reached out and put my hand on Boyd's hand as his gathered with pain just revisiting the memory.

"It wasn't your fault Boyd. You were just a kid." I squeezed his hand and he opened his eyes to look over at me.

"We all take on guilt that may not be our faults but that doesn't make it any less heavy. I see a lot of her in you and I made a promise to myself when I decided to take the bite from Derek. I promised never to let anything take you away from me. I know you hate hearing it but it's the truth. We'd die for you, Maggie. I'd die for you." Boyd turned his hand over and squeezed mine back as I stepped into his space and rested my face on his chest.

"I hope you never have to because I love you too much to let you go big brother." I breathed into his shirt and felt him pull me to him just a little bit tighter. The thought of losing anyone of them made the pit of my stomach lurch. Almost losing Scott, thinking I'd lost Derek, that almost killed me.

"Are you two done being mushy?" Cora's voice cut through the moment and we both turned to look at her.

"Don't be jealous because Boyd told me I was his favorite." Cora rolled her eyes and I immediately realized the eyeroll was a Hale trait.

"Yeah yeah well I'm stealing him for the rest of the evening so if you need something, I suggest you call someone else. But since I left you something in your nightstand, I think you'll be good to go." Cora smirked which was a bit unnerving but she pulled me into a hug. Isaac yawned behind her and I shook my head.

"You hooligans get out of here and make sure this one gets to a bed before he falls out." I watched them walk toward the driveway and pulled up the gravel road.

"I guess since everyone else is heading out, I'll get Scott out of your hair too." Lydia put her arm around my shoulders and I snaked mine around her waist.

"You guys don't have to leave." Lydia shook her head.

"I think you and Stiles need some time alone." I pulled out of her embrace and ran my hands through my hair in frustration.

"Okay I get it, everyone knows we made out but I honestly think everyone needs to chill with pushing us together. We still have a lot to talk about." Lydia's eyes were wide and her jaw dropped.

"I had no idea you two made out. I was talking about how I gave Stiles your death note. When did you two make out?" Lydia teased making me immediately cover my face. She pulled at my hands.

"It's about time you two worked your crap out. The sexual tension alone is smothering the rest of us." Lydia gave me a bit of a shove and I shook my head.

"Are you done?" I asked making her smile.

"Not a chance but I'm happy for you…for both of you. You deserve happiness. Please don't break your own heart, Maggie." Lydia pulled on my hand until I put my arms around her to hug her.

"Thank you for coming out and hanging with us non-cool kids." I felt her laugh against my chest.

"You guys hang out with me which makes you cool, didn't you know?" Lydia winked at me and kissed my cheek. Scott came out holding Lydia's jacket.

"I didn't want to interrupt but Stiles sort of told me to get lost so I figured that was my cue to whisk Lydia away." We both laughed and she moved some of my hair off my face as if she was trying to make me presentable. Scott kissed my cheek and I watched him open Lydia's door to her car before getting in himself.

Everyone else had gone and it was only Stiles and I now. I could see him pacing nervously in my bedroom window and thought back to what Lydia had said about giving him the letter. I remember the day I wrote that letter and how utterly destroyed I was to have to give Lydia such a heavy letter. I carried myself up the steps and pushed the door open making him turn towards me.

"Sorry I was going to come down but it was harder than I expected to get rid of…and that was a terrible choice of words." Stiles reached back and rubbed his neck tensely.

"Lydia told me she gave you the letter." His face fell, hand absently fumbling away from his neck to his back pocket to pull the letter out, still sealed and folded.

"I didn't read it…I don't want to read it." He looked at it almost offended by it and I nodded at him understanding why it would make him uncomfortable now with me standing in front of him just barely 24 hours after almost dying in his arms.

"I think you should still hold onto it. Even now, everything in it is still pretty true and-"

"I don't want it." Stiles walked over to me and put the note in my hand but kept his hands on mine.

"I don't want a goodbye letter. I want to spend time with you. I want to hold your hand and cuddle with you on your bed. I want to go to sleep with you in my arms unafraid that when I wake up, you'll still be there. I don't want to think about losing you anymore. I want to think about how lucky I am to just have you for even just a little while." Stiles eyes were pleading and I looked down at his hands gripping mine so desperately.

"I want all those things too, Stiles. I do. I want you more than anything but we can't ignore the world outside. I might not be the person you want those things with once we sort the Alpha Pack and the Darach out." I wished I could control my doubts but I was already getting lost in them when Stiles dropped my hands and gripped my face roughly slamming his lips onto mine almost bruising them. He breathed in heavy through his nose, tugging on my bottom lip with his own. Every time we kissed it felt like I was spinning in circles with my arms out too afraid to open my eyes for fear of falling.

When he pulled away, he kept his hands on either side of my face.

"That's what you don't understand! I'd still choose you. In every dimension, in every bad situation, whatever version of reality there was, I'd choose you! Always." Stiles voice was raw and broken like he was on the verge of tears.

"I'm in love with you, you idiot." I let the letter drop to the floor and gripped his face, mimicking his position to kiss him back hard on the mouth sending him stumbling backwards with me still attached to his mouth. His back hit the wall and he let his hands run down my back until I wrapped my arms around his neck and jumped to put my legs around his waist. He grunted from the contact but seemed to get his bearing's enough to walk the both of us towards the bed and carefully fall on top of me. I could hear how fast his heart was beating in his chest and once I moved my legs far enough apart of him to lie between them, I could tell he was just as excited about kissing me as I was about kissing him. I ran my hands under his shirt and his whole body trembled making him push up on his arms so his weight was no longer on top of me but above me.

"Are you okay?" I asked staring up at him, his pupils blown out and the sharp blush under his beauty marks that painted his cheeks.

"Yeah yeah I'm just…my heart might explode. Give me a second." He sat up completely and I followed him resting my hand on his knee. He licked his lips and laughed trying to shake out the nerves running through his system and I smiled at him.

"We can take a break if your heart can't handle it. I'd hate for you to keel over before the good stuff happens." Stiles eyebrows went up.

"Now you've got me curious. What's the good stuff exactly?" He questioned. I bit my lip before sitting up far enough to pull my shirt over my head. Stiles eyebrows were practically in his hair line as I sat comfortably in my bra. He shook his head and leaned back over towards me.

"Yeah yeah I'm…this works. This is an amazing look for you." I laughed into his kiss but before I could pull him on top of me, he sprang to his feet and went towards the door. I watched him flick the lock and eyeball my dresser before shoving it carefully in front of the door as if it were a barricade.

"I'm not taking anymore chances. We've had enough interruptions for a lifetime." He explained before slithering his body back on top of mine. I was quickly finding out that I loved the feeling of his weight on top of mine, his rough hands sliding over skin no one else had touched, cupping my breast and giving it a careful but firm squeeze. I couldn't stop my hips from pushing up against his.

"Fuck." Stiles groaned so suddenly that it startled me. He pulled away and looked at me.

"Hey we don't have to do anything. I just love that you're letting me actual be here with you." I pushed him back to a sitting position and shook my head leaving my hand on his chest for a moment.

"I'm tired of waiting. Time is never on my side and right now, we're both here. I want this with you Stiles." I offered nervously before unclasping the front of my bra and pulling it open to reveal more of myself to Stiles than I ever had. I watched his mouth gape slowly then close quickly so he could swallow hard, looking from my breasts to my face.

"Are you…are you sure?" I let my hand linger over Stiles heart again before gathering the front of his shirt to pull him back on top of me. When I kissed his lips, his barely moved like he was still in shock. He pulled back and looked at me.

"If we're going to do this, we're going to do this right. I want to take my time with you. I know what our lives are like and we may never-" I cut him off touching his neck.

"Hey, I'm right here and I'm not going anywhere. Tonight I'm all yours." I leaned up kissing his neck and he closed his eyes for a moment before standing up. I scooted to the end of the bed and pushed the bottom of his shirt up enough for him to pull it over his head. I ran my hand through the patch of hair in the middle of his sternum all the way down to the hair descending into his jeans. I took the button into my hand and slowly opened up in order to draw the zipper downward. He started to push his jeans off and his erection was very clear behind the fabric of his loose boxer briefs. I met his gaze and he licked his lips a I sat up on my knees to put little tender kisses along his chest leaving behind lightly bruised skin from sucking just a bit too hard. Stiles hands fumbled with the button on my shorts but once he got it loose, he ran his hands down the back of my ass and pushed them down my legs. He made quick work of his pants, shoes and socks before crawling back on top of me. The room felt warm and his body felt heavier than before as he looked down at me.

"Do you have any idea how long I've dreamed about this moment?" I reached up and cupped his face, stroking his cheek and smiling.

"I'm yours Stiles. Always." Stiles licked his lips before finding mine. This time he let his tongue run down my jaw. I felt myself blushing knowing that he was mere inches from my exposed chest, up close and personal. I guess being topless hadn't really phased me until now but the moment his tongue circled my nipple, I gasped unexpectedly making him freeze. I ran my hand up the back of his neck and gripped his hair letting him know that I liked what he was doing and he pressed on, leaving a trail of wet skin down my torso stopping just as he met the top of my underwear.

"I…I don't know what I'm doing but I'd like to try…if that's…I mean if that's something you're into." Stiles hands were nervously rubbing circles into the skin of my thighs and I nodded not sure what to say. No one has ever seen me…this naked before and the fact that it was Stiles who was politely asking to go down on me kind of set every nerve in my body on fire. He was careful about pulling my underwear down but once he did, I could see his chest shake a bit pushing my legs apart. I brought my arms up to my chest self consciously and his eyes flicked up.

"Hey don't cover yourself up. You're beautiful Maggie." I smiled watching him kiss my knee as he wrapped an arm around my thigh.

"If you don't like what I'm doing, just say so and I'll stop. I promise." Stiles assured. I took a deep breath and closed my eyes unsure of what I was about to feel. He waited for a few moments before I felt the wetness of his tongue lick tentatively. He seemed to adjust how he was leaning, trying to probe deeper. It wasn't uncomfortable, just odd. It wasn't until he applied more pressure to my clit that I jumped making him look up at my face. I felt his gaze but was too embarrassed to look down. He repeated the ministration showing more attention to that specific area and I groaned. I pinched at my nipples trying to keep myself distracted by how good it felt to have Stiles lapping at me, gripping my thighs tightly and pushing my legs up towards my chest which somehow made the feeling of him sucking on my clit that much more intense.

"Fuck." I whimpered feeling my back sweating against the sheets. As good as he was making me feel, I wanted to feel what it was like to have him inside of me.

"Stiles…Stiles…" He looked up and I pulled on the back of his neck so he would slide back up against my body, he was completely hard and pressing uncomfortably into my stomach as he let me taste myself in our kiss. It wasn't bad, strange but surprisingly it made me even more turned on.

"I'm ready." I swallowed and felt heat in my throat watching him hold himself above me.

"Are you sure? I mean I was just getting pretty good at that." Stiles joked making me shake my head at him.

"I won't disagree with that but I've kind of been thinking about this for a while and I really just want you to be inside me." Stiles eyebrows shot up and his jaw dropped.

"That's….fuck. Okay, yeah that's, I want that. Wow I can't believe you just said that." Stiles rested his forehead on my shoulder and I kissed the tip of his ear so he'd lift his head.

"I don't have-"

"Check the nightstand." I pointed up at the dimly lit lamp and Stiles clothed erection moved across my skin making me anxious. He pulled a condom out and held it in his fingers looking the package over curiously.

"Cora said she'd put something in there and I just took a guess." Stiles squinted at me.

"That's wildly inappropriate but very Cora. I'll be sure to thank he later." Stiles made eye contact with me and smiled. He leaned down slowly and kissed me softly once more bringing the attention back to the two of us. He flipped off of me and took his boxers off under the sheets, tossing them on the floor next to the bed and ripping into the package.

"Do you want me to-" I began but he grunted.

"No! No no I got it." He was adamant making me look at him strangely.

"I'm about 85% sure if you even attempt to touch my dick right now that this will be over in like 2.5 seconds so if you could save that for next time that would be awesome." The fact that he had actually implied there would be a next time excited me. He finally slipped it on and then rolled back on top of me making sure to keep his weight up but that didn't stop his cock from rubbing against me. I looked him over as he looked down between us like he was trying to assemble something complicated and noticed his entire body was shaking. I put my hand on his bicep carefully and he looked up.

"Hey…it's just you and me. We'll go slow." I let my nails graze his skin for a moment and he huffed out a laugh.

"Yeah it's just you and me..." He pushed down so he could kiss me but this time I held his face in my hands trying to keep his body against me. I could tell he was trying to keep his breathing steady because he couldn't kiss me for very long.

"Take a deep breath. Just breathe okay?" I ran my hands down his throat and could feel his heart beating like it was trying to escape his chest. He closed his eyes for a moment and caught his breath and I slipped my hands down to grip him carefully making his eyes shoot opening.

"Whoa!" He shivered, cock resting heaving in my hands as I adjust my position. I spread my legs wider and let go of him so he could push into me whenever he was ready. I gave him a nod and he started to slowly push forward jaw dropping the slower he moved. It wasn't what I expected at all and he must have read that on my face.

"What's wrong? Am I hurting you?" He questioned but I twisted my face up.

"No not at all. I actually thought that it was supposed to hurt but it doesn't hurt at all. It actually feels pretty good." I looked at Stiles who seemed to be studying my face.

"That's a common misconception actually. The more aroused you are, the less chances of it being painful. Being well lubricated helps." I stared up at Stiles as he rattled off random sex facts before finally letting myself laugh. He laughed back.

"What?! I did my research! I wasn't going to have sex for the first time and be the only one who enjoyed it. This is the 21st Century. Orgasms should be treated equal." Stiles defended his knowledge and I tried to control my laughter. Here we were, two complete head cases who finally got their shit together are now having sex for the first time and Stiles is putting his investigative knowledge to use just to make sure I'm comfortable.

"Well my future orgasm appreciates your attention to detail to equal opportunities." I put my hands on his chest and he rolled his eyes.

"Make fun now but if you're this turned on, I'm clearly doing well…just don't move for a second okay?" Stiles let his head hang down on my chest and I ran my nails up and down his arms trying to distract him from what he was feeling. He pushed forward slowly and kept his head down trying to breathe out a groan into his chest. I felt a dull rush every time he pushed forward and I moved my legs up to wrap around his hips. It must have given him a better angle because the dull rush turned into a surge and I moaned. Stiles froze and looked up.

"Seriously?" He questioned and I pulled on his hips.

"Keep going." I pressed watching him bite his lip as I started to meet his thrusts. We began a steady rhythm, listening to one another's moans and chasing them to please one another. My hands roaming every inch of his skin, learning curves of his muscles that I'd never touched before, scars and freckles I'd never seen up close and so intimately. I have never felt so whole and unbroken as I did in this moment with him. My heart was beating so fast and I could feel his breath on my neck as he kept telling me how beautiful I was and how good he felt. I shifted my hips and locked my ankles together to rest about his ass so he could drive deeper, harder and faster into me.

"Oh fu-" Stiles voice was weak and breathy, picking up his pace. I pulled his face towards mine to kiss him but he couldn't seem to focus on my mouth long enough to kiss me so I settled for sucking a hickey into his neck instead.

"God you feel so fucking good. I'm not...I'm not gonna last much longer." Stiles warned. I could feel the building but I wasn't quite there yet. I moved my hands up to the back of his head and he looked up at me. His eyes softened almost like he knew staring at me was going to make him come faster but I kept his face in my hands, mouth hanging open breathing heavy and trying desperately to keep from screaming with how good it felt.

"FUCK!" Stiles clenched his eyes shut, thrust coming out sloppy and slow as his body started to trembled above me. I pulled his mouth back to mine and kissed him hard as he let his body fall slowly onto mine. I wrapped my arms around him feeling his weighted sweaty body on my own and the gentle shivers that seemed to run up and down his spine as I stroked his hair. He took a few moments to catch his breath before picking up his weight off of me and pulling out. I instantly felt the loss of him and missed it. He disposed of the condom and looked over at me strangely when I pulled his arm back towards me.

"I need to borrow your hand for a second." I explained in short but before he could ask, I put his index and middle finger between my legs.

"Ohhhh Jesus..." Stiles jaw dropped quickly picking up on what I was doing as I started to ride his fingers. He curled them just slightly and I threw my head back letting out a moan.

"Fuck I didn't think this could get any better." Stiles whispered watching me intently when I moved his thumb over my clit and pressed down hard. My legs started to jump with how good it felt and I knew his eyes were making my skin radiate. He leaned down and started to suck on my neck and I gripped his wrist tightly the closer I felt to my orgasm.

"Fuck Stiles, don't stop. I'm so close. Please don't stop." I begged feeling his teeth sink into my skin, biting just enough to cause a searing pain that I couldn't get enough of. I could almost hear the rapid beating of my heart against my chest, I could taste the sweat from my lip as I tried to clamp my mouth shut to keep from moaning outloud but it was no use.

"OH OH!" I let out a noise that made the lights in the room flicker so brightly that I could hear the bulbs burn out leaving the both of us in darkness as I stopped Stiles hand from moving. I fell back on the pillows keeping my eyes closed as I tried to catch my breath.

"Are you okay?" Stiles asked sounding amused. I opened my eyes slowly releasing his hand so he could pull it from between my thighs and I nodded.

"Mmhmm." I wasn't confident my words would come out and actually make sense right now but that only fueled his amusement.

"That was...the sexiest thing I have ever seen." I finally looked over at him and laughed at the utterly goofy grin he had painted across his face. His laugh was the perfect ending to our first time as he leaned down to kiss my lips. He pulled the bed sheet up so we weren't laid out so exposed and I laid my head on his chest, draping my hand up to rest in the patch of hair that rested there. He ran his fingertips up and down my back and placed small kisses into the top of my head, pulling me as close as I could be so that our bodies were practically stitched together. I could still hear how fast our hearts were beating, slowly calming as we both grew comfortable.

"How do you feel?" Stiles finally broke through the silence of the room still stroking my back and playing with my fingers with his free hand.

"Fuzzy? Like my entire body is buzzing or something." I looked up when Stiles remained silent at my reply to see he was grinning again.

"Oh god if I knew sex would make you this cocky-" He pulled me tightly to his chest with a chuckle cutting me off.

"I'm kidding...not really." I sank into his warmth and honestly felt safer than I had in months.

"How do you feel? Besides super accomplished." I teased but his smile softened.

"Scared." I rested my chin on his chest and looked at him curiously.

"This...being here with you like this...it almost feels like a dream I dread waking up from because I know what's out there. I know what we're facing and I know the history between us. I just don't want to lose you again." I was disappointed that I couldn't give him that guarantee because of the danger that always seemed to follow me.

"You know I can't promise you that." He started to shift towards me when I pulled away but he stopped me.

"I know that and I wouldn't ask you to. I just want you to not walk away from this, from me. Please let me in. Please let yourself be loved because that's all I want to do." I watched his eyes carefully as he reached up to push my hair off my face and I leaned into his embrace.

"Okay." I kissed his lips softly and rested my forehead against his. His arms tightened around me and I felt safe as his heartbeat and gentle touches eased me into a comfortable lull. I didn't know how I was going to let myself get comfortable with the idea of having something I've wanted for so long but I would deal with all my worries and doubts tomorrow.

**[Scott's POV]**

I woke up far too early with a phone call from the Sheriff wondering why Stiles wasn't answering his phone. It felt way too early to lie but that's what I did saying that Stiles was passed out and forgot to charge his phone which meant I had to rush over to Maggie's and tell Stiles to get home before his Dad came looking for him. When I pulled up to the house though, his jeep was gone.

"Maggie? It's me." I opened the door and heard shuffling upstairs.

"Come on up." She yelled back as I took the stairs slowly. The scent of Stiles was really strong which meant he had either just left of he'd rubbed himself all over the walls and stairs at some point. It wasn't until I saw her cleaning her room that I figured out why the house smelled so strongly of Stiles.

"Do me a favor and just...don't say anything about it. I know what you're thinking but my head is just all over the place and I don't really want to talk about it." Maggie sat down on her bed and I watched her rub her hands together.

"Stiles didn't leave here in tears did he? I mean I won't ask about...that but I mean-" Maggie shook her head with a slight chuckle.

"No he didn't leave here in tears. I'm surprised he remembered to put on his shoes with how angry his dad sounded. There was an awkward exchange before he took off but he's fine." Maggie brought her legs into her self as I walked further into the room.

"But you aren't." She looked up at me and I could see fear in her eyes. It was a look I'd see quite a bit when it came to Stiles, that familiar look of doubt and dread for what might happen next that made her do things that ultimately only ended up hurting herself and everyone around her.

"I don't know I just don't get it. It's all really hard to believe." I sat down in the chair in front of her.

"What do you mean? You guys care about each other, you've loved him as long as I've known you. What's so hard to believe that he loves you back?" Maggie was so restless I could actually taste the bitterness in the air. She was supposed to be happy that things with Stiles were finally going in the right direction and I felt sad that she couldn't let herself feel those things.

"How could he be in love with someone like me? How could anyone be in love with someone who's done the horrible things I've done? How could he possible see a future with someone so broken?" She let a tear breech her eye and she quickly wiped it away as she looked over at me for answers.

"Mags…it's okay-" I reached out for her hand but she maintained the space. She knew if I touched her, I'd tried to leech some of her internal pain and she'd never let me do that.

"What if he wakes up one day and realizes he made a mistake taking a chance on me? What if he realizes I'm really a lot more screwed up than I appear to be?" I wanted so much to wrap my arms around her but I didn't want to make things worse. I never had to worry about that before but things were so different now.

"Maggie, it sounds to me like you're just scared." I rested my hand on her bed near her knee and she looked at it.

"Of course I'm scared Scott. I'm absolutely terrified. Now it's not just the fear of someone or something taking him away from me, now he has the ability to walk away on his own and that scares the hell out of me." She let out a shaky breath and seemed completely shattered. I decided to go for it, putting my hand on top of hers, squeezing it and bringing it to my lips to kiss. She frowned at me and I put our hands on the bed, still gripping hers tightly.

"I know things have always been difficult for you and I know that you have every right to be this nervous and afraid but you can't let that fear rule you Mags. You have to have some wins. You have to let yourself be loved because if you don't, every day is a bad day. It makes fighting the bad things harder. Stiles loves you. He was a mess when you took off and even after you came back, he's been dying to just tell you how much he needs you in his life so please believe me when I say he's not going anywhere." Maggie frowned.

"You can't promise that Scott. You just can't." She replied sadly and I smiled.

"I can. I know you and Stiles better than anyone on Earth. If he had you, he'd never let you go." Maggie finally gave me a small smile before pulling her hand from mine so she could run it through her hair.

"I honestly can't even think about this stuff right now. Things are about to get ugly with Deucalion and I don't have time-" I grabbed her by the face.

"Yes! Yes you do have time! Yesterday, you seemed so bright and full of life. You deserve to have those days with us, with Stiles. Let yourself have it Maggie!" She laughed smacking at my wrist. My phone started beeping and I let go of her face to check the text I just received.

"Mom is requesting sustenance. Come with me. We never get to spend any time alone anymore. Stiles already got his, it's my turn." Maggie finally let out a laugh and it was like music to my ears. It was pure and I think it even surprised her.

"Well to be honest, you'll have a leg up on Stiles. He hasn't even taken me out to dinner yet." Maggie teased grabbing her jacket.

"Wow I didn't know you were so easy." I teased earning a hard punch to my arm. It felt good to have her open up and let me in. She seemed less tense getting on the back of my bike, putting the helmet on and wrapping her arms around me as headed towards the Dynasty Gardens to pick up some dinner.

"What the hell is going on?" Looking around the parking lot of the hospital, everything looked like the apocalypse had started.

"There must have been an accident or something." Maggie got off the bike resting the helmet on the seat to hand me mom's food. I spotted her quickly, redirecting a gurney and shouting for a doctor. She smiled when she saw us but quickly took the food out of my hands before I could even say hello.

"Oh my god, I'm starving." She put the box on the counter and started to open it before pausing and looking at the both of us.

"I'm sorry, you're both angels. Thank you for bringing me dinner." She pulled me into a hug before leaning over and kissing Maggie's forehead.

"It's a complete madhouse tonight." Maggie dodged a nurse trying to help a woman struggling to stay on her feet over to a chair.

"Is everything okay?" I asked dumbly.

"Except for half the accident victims in a ten car pile-up being rerouted here from downtown, and the E.R. attending not answering any of his pages, yeah, I'm okay." She looked shaken.

"What does not answering pages mean?" I pressed not sure how uncommon it was for doctors to just not show up for duty.

"It means that nobody can find him, so now we have to wait for the on call to get here." A woman wincing walked up and put her hand on mom's arm, clearly in a lot of pain.

"Miss. Excuse me, can I kind of please have something for the pain?" She was trying not to cry and I felt Maggie put her hand on my arm.

"Okay, I'm sorry. I know. But, actually, giving you something could complicate things, so we really just need to wait for the doctors. Okay?" Mom sat the woman down trying to get her to stay calm but it didn't seem to be working with all the pain she was in.

"Go. I'll keep watch." Maggie nudged me towards the wounded woman and I sat down next to her, glancing up at Maggie who simply nodded.

"Uh, you know, I think that I read online that sometimes human contact can help with pain." I reached out carefully, placing my hand on top of hers, feeling the sharp throbbing pain in her ribcage from where she seemed to have cracked or completely broken a few ribs. It didn't hurt too badly but her face completely changed as the pain numbed away becoming bearable. I smiled at her and she returned it grateful to be out of pain.

"You're a good one Scott McCall." I turned my head and Maggie put her hand on my shoulder.

"Someone… Someone help me! I need help!" Ethan burst through the Emergency Room doors dragging Danny under his arm pleading for help.

"Danny?!" Maggie and I ran towards them helping mom get him onto a gurney.

"What did you do to him?" I yanked Ethan away from Danny while mom looked him over but he shoved my hand away.

"Nothing. He said he was having chest pains and trouble breathing, but it... it just kept getting worse." Ethan explained. This time, Maggie pushed past me and jerked Ethan up by his collar, slamming him into the wall.

"Like hell. What did you do to him?! I swear to god I will send you back to Deucalion in pieces." Maggie snarled not allowing Ethan to budge.

"Maggie! We don't have time for that. This is not good. His larynx has shifted to the side. I think it's a tension pneumothorax." Mom stepped back as Danny threw up all over the hospital floor. The cause of his illness now apparent.

"Mistletoe." Mom looked at me before wheeling Danny off into a waiting area, Maggie and Ethan hot on our heels while she begged us to wait in the waiting room.

"Where are the nurses and the doctors? Where is everyone?" Ethan looked around anxiously, not like he was guilty but that he was actually worried about Danny.

"It's a full house tonight. They're tending to other patients." Mom explained as she looked around to see who actually could assist in saving Danny.

"Okay, well, mom, how can we help?" I asked seeing my mom's face twist wishing there was something we could do.

"Honey, you can't. His lung is collapsed. His heart is being pushed against his chest cavity, so…" Mom looked desperate.

"He's gonna die, isn't he?" Maggie stepped up next to mom and shook her head.

"They might not be able to help you but I can. I'll handle the heart if you handle the lung." Maggie kept her voice low so Danny wouldn't hear her.

"Maggie are you sure you can-" Mom asked and Maggie didn't even let her finish before she ripped Danny's shirt open.

"Trust me, I can do this." Maggie put her hand on Danny's bare chest just over his heart, mom grabbed a long needle and felt around over his chest before taking a deep breath.

"Mom, he's not breathing." I started to panic as she hovered the needle over his chest and Maggie kept her eyes narrowed using whatever magic she could to help keep Danny alive.

"I know, I know. Okay, here we go." She used the large needle to puncture his chest and flipped a valve of some kind releasing air and allowing Danny to take a breath. Maggie removed her hand and Danny smiled.

"Thank you." He whispered with a broken voice. Mom returned his smile and patted his shoulder.

"No problem." Mom looked over at me and I just couldn't help but stare at her in awe. She'd just saved Danny's life.

"That was awesome." Mom laughed at how stunned and completely proud I was of her quick, badassery.

"It was no problem, you know? I mean, it wasn't a big deal." Ethan reached across and shook her hand and Maggie eyed him harshly.

"I've got to go see what the hold up is with Dr. Hilyard. No more fighting in my ER, Maggie." Maggie pushed Danny's hair back and I knew there was no way I was going to get her away from Danny without help. I walked outside and hit Stiles number.

"Yo Scotty what's up? I meant to call-"

"You need to get to the hospital. Ethan brought Danny in poisoned by mistletoe and my mom had to save him. I can't say Ethan will be so lucky if Maggie gets ahold of him though." I explained quickly before Stiles could start ranting.

"Is she with you there?! I'm on the way now. I'll be there in a few minutes." Stiles hung up just as Ethan came barreling out the doors after me with his hands up in surrender. My attention was pulled away from him by a rouge car driving all over the parking lot. I walked towards the lights trying to see if the driver was okay but when they crashed into a parked car, I took off. I opened the door quickly and was surprised to see that no one was inside.

"What's that?" Ethan had followed me and pointed to something small sitting on the driver side seat. I reached in carefully picking up the gray moth, it's wings spread but completely unmovable resting against my palm

"Is that a moth?" Ethan continued to ask questions but I quickly started connecting the dots of what might have happened to the driver, leaving behind a small animal in it's place like all the others.

"It's the Darach." The name fell off my tongue and I knew the next set of victims had already started being collected.

**[Stiles' POV]**

I pulled up to see squad lights and Scott standing back while my dad talked to Melissa. No sign of Maggie though.

"Hey man what the hell happened?" Scott shook his head and opened his fist to show me a dead moth.

"I'm going to need a bit more than that Scott. Where is Maggie?" Ethan came barreling towards us and I felt my body tense up. Scott put his hands out like he was stopping him from running into us, shaking his head.

"Whatever you're about to say, don't bother. If you were smart, you'd leave before she follows through on that threat." Scott warned and I could only assume he was talking about Maggie threatening him which was more than what he deserved.

"I know you're not going to believe me, but I didn't do anything, not with the doctors missing and not to Danny." He was right. We had no reason to believe him, especially after what he's put Maggie and the others through. He was still part of the alpha pack that wanted them dead and couldn't be trusted.

"All I know is that the minute that you got here, you went right for Danny, and your brother went for Lydia." Scott explained. Ethan rolled his eyes.

"We're not gonna hurt him." That didn't make me feel any better.

"It didn't stop you from hurting Erica though." I spoke up catching his glare.

"Why should we believe you?" Scott asked incredulously.

"Because we knew there would be people you'd want to protect, ones that were important to you. Stiles is that for Maggie and Lydia is that for you." Scott looked up and noticed Maggie walk out of the hospital at the wrong moment to hear Ethan's pack plan to go after the people her and Scott cared about instantly causing Maggie to dart towards him.

"You stay the HELL away from them, do you hear me!? I swear to God I will kill all of you!" She snarled baring her fangs and claws. Scott pushed Ethan away from Maggie seeing his fangs out defensively and I wrapped my arms around her waist, pulling her backwards.

"Maggie! Not here! Come on!" I glanced towards my dad and Melissa seeing that the scuffle had alerted them. Scott shoved Ethan towards the hospital and he turned away overpowered.

"I'll talk to your dad, you two get out of sight for a few." Scott nodded towards the jeep and I practically had to drag Maggie across the lot. She got into the passenger seat unwillingly and I ran around to the driver side so she couldn't flee.

"I had it under control." Maggie spat.

"Yeah if by tearing that prick to pieces in front of at least 20 people, one being my dad then yeah, you completely had it under control." Maggie cut her eyes at me.

"Look, I know why you feel the way you feel about them. I hate them too and personally can't wait for you to tear them apart but you have to be careful. There are too many people involved in this, too many things that could go wrong." I explained making her turn in her seat.

"You understand _that_ but you couldn't wrap your head around why I didn't want you being in the middle of all this?" I leaned back like she'd just slapped me with some truth. She wasn't wrong but I thought we'd gotten past that after last night.

"So I guess that explains why you haven't been answering my texts all day." I looked down at my jeans and heard her let out a sigh.

"I don't regret being with you Stiles." She sounded annoyed.

"Well that's a relief." I huffed sarcastically but it truly was. If she told me she wanted space or that she actually did regret it, I wouldn't know what to do.

"I regret that my life is a slow motion train wreck and you're caught in the middle. I regret that just caring about you puts your life at risk. I regret that I have to think twice about holding your hand in front of people because I never know who will be the next person to come after me." I looked over at Maggie seeing her tense.

"Do you have…do you understand that if I lose you…if I lose you, there's no hope for me. I will go straight up dark side and there will be no bringing me out of it." I reached up and brushed the tear off of Maggie's cheek and gripped her neck.

"You aren't going to go dark side because I won't let anyone take me away from you. Look how long it took us to get here. We've fought worse than some stupid, arrogant pack and dark druid. We always manage to get through it together so take a chance on us okay?" I rested my forehead against hers and she closed her eyes.

"God you make it sound so simple that I actually believe things might be okay. It's so annoying." I smirked knowing that was tough for her to admit.

"Speaking of annoying, I'm pretty annoyed with myself for not remembering to ask you out on an official date last night." Maggie opened her eyes and leaned back to look at me.

"Oh I thought you were just in it for the sex." She teased. I shrugged my shoulders and put my arm around the back of her seat.

"I'm being serious. Would you like to go on a date with me?" Maggie leaned her head on my arm smirking.

"I'm actually booked up solid. I've got this whole pack of wolves to deal with and then a psychotic druid but after that I think I'll have some free time." I pushed some of her hair off her neck touching a tiny freckle that rest just below her earlobe.

"Sounds like a date." He wanted to kiss her but Scott had run up to the passenger side window interrupting them.

"Okay I gave my statement to your dad. Mom said they've admitted Danny for a few days so his body can recover and Ethan has taken off. Mom said she'd keep an eye on him but I'm more worried about her. We already know the Darach has targeted us but now it's going after healers." Scott kept glancing back at his mom still standing with my dad.

"I can call Cora and Boyd to keep an eye on your place tonight if you want?" Maggie offered.

"I think Isaac and I should be fine keeping watch over her. You might want to call them for you though." Scott gestured to Maggie.

"I'm not a healer Scott." Maggie blew it off.

"No but you heal people which kind of makes you a healer." Scott had a point.

"I'll stick with her tonight and make sure she's safe." Both Scott and Maggie turned to look at me.

"Oh yeah?" Scott had a huge grin on his face.

"Yeah. I can fight and I know how to dial up my nearest emergency wolfie contact. I've got her covered." Maggie covered her mouth with her hand trying to hide her laugh which was a bit rude but I would mention that later.

"So are we still not talking about this yet?" Scott thumbed at Maggie and I but she started rolling up the window.

"Goodnight Scott!" I started up the jeep and noticed my dad in the rear view.

"Crap, it's my dad. Just be cool." Maggie made a face as I rolled the window down.

"Hey Dad I was just dropping Maggie-" Dad stopped me with his hand.

"I know you spent the night at Maggie's last night. I also know that the odds of you dropping her off are slim because I'll be working this missing person case overnight tonight but I have called Nathan and told him that I'd prefer you stay in the guest room or the couch." I felt my eyebrows retreat to the top of my head not sure how to respond.

"I get it. You guys are teenagers but there's enough going on in this town without having to raise a kid before you graduate so please all I ask is that you're careful." I felt myself snap out of it but Maggie had already leaned over the stick shift towards my dad.

"I promise no funny business Sheriff. You have my word." I looked at Maggie almost betrayed and Dad nodded relieved.

"Great. Are you happy with yourself now?" I narrowed my gaze at him making him crack a satisfied smile.

"Very much so. Make sure you get to school tomorrow on time or you're grounded." Dad pointed his finger at me and I threw the jeep in reverse.

"Love you too dad. Be careful out there." Maggie sat in the passenger seat covering her face to keep from laughing out loud as I drove towards her place.

"While I appreciate you not laughing in my face, I'm going to be kinda bummed if I have to sleep on the couch." She finally let out a laugh patted my hand on the shifter.

"I said there would be no funny business. I didn't say you weren't going to sleep in my bed with me." I looked over at her face and liked how much she had been smiling the last two days. I missed her smile. I missed her laugh and the way she would make jokes that weren't dejected.

"I see you brought a bag with you, how very presumptuous of you." Maggie pulled my bag out from the back seat and held it in her lap as we drove towards her house.

"Yeah well you already put out so- OW!" Maggie barely let me finish before she punched me hard in the shoulder.

"Honestly I packed the bag after Scott said more people were being taken. The Darach already came for you once, I'm not going to take any chances on a second time." I pulled down the driveway to see Nathan's truck was gone which made me question whether my dad had really called him or not.

It felt exciting to walk into Maggie's house and get comfortable in her room. She'd taken a shower and we ate some leftovers in the kitchen before settling under the covers of her bed. I'd put my pajamas on and finished up some homework while she read some sort of oddly bound book which I could only assume was one of the books Karen had left her. It felt like we'd been doing this for years. I glanced over and noticed her wincing, gripping her hands and twisting them like they were hurting her.

"Have you taken your medicine?" I asked making her look up at me confused. I reached over and took her hands into mine.

"Isaac told me about your hands, about how they healed…after Gerard." Maggie frowned as I started massaging her hands.

"I didn't want you to feel anymore guilty than I know you already do about that night. It wouldn't change anything." Maggie explained.

"You're wrong. Just because you're hurting doesn't mean you have to hurt alone." I could see the tension leave her shoulders the harder I massaged the damaged muscles. Thinking about how long she's had to struggle with this pain did make me feel guilty but I knew if I dwelled, she'd feel it so I just kept putting light kisses on her knuckles.

"I know how scared you are right now. I know everything is messed up and it's only going to get worse but if you're going to be too caught up in all of it to take care of yourself than I need you to promise me that you'll let me take care of you instead. Please Maggie." I held her hands to my mouth and she smiled almost seeming dazed by the plea.

"I'm not the easiest person to take care of." Maggie warned but I pulled her hands to my chest so her lips were close enough for me to graze.

"Who said love was easy? Besides, I'm not easy to take care of either. I'm a terrible morning person, my hair is always a mess-" Maggie laughed out loud and I couldn't help but smile.

"Okay nerd I think it's time for bed before you cheese up anymore of my room." Maggie put her book on the nightstand and I tossed my binder on top of my backpack on the floor before switching the light off. She laid her head on my chest and draped her arm across my torso which was surprisingly comfortable but it helped that her frame was so small it fit into me like a puzzle piece. The silence that filled the dark room seemed so peaceful. I ran my hand through Maggie's hair until she'd drifted to sleep and that made me feel accomplished. The girl who'd spent the last year in a state of chaos, barely sleeping, always running and fighting her demons and I managed to put her into such a safe space that she could pass out in minutes. I looked around the room at the photos on the wall of all the people she loved and lost. Pictures of the past that I'm sure brought her both pain and happiness. All I wanted was to be able to take some of Maggie's pain away and make her less afraid to find happiness and love freely without the fear that it would be ripped away from her. All I wanted was to be what Maggie needed.

**[Maggie's POV]**

I woke up from the warmth that surrounded me, arms securing me tightly to a broad chest and someone breathing heavily against my neck. I smiled hearing the soft snores and random words being whispered in slumber by Stiles. This feeling, this comfortable embrace was something I kind of loved waking up to. I shifted carefully but Stiles pulled me closer, securing his grip around my waist and snorting slightly from being jostled. The sound of his phone vibrating on the night stand caught my attention and l leaned over to grab it catching sight of the time.

"Oh shit! Stiles get up! We're going to be late!" I shouted making him snap awake and fall on the floor. He jumped to his feet wielding a baseball bat and squinting.

"WHAT?! WHO IS IT!?" He shook the bat clearly out of it and I laughed grabbing a pair of jeans from the closet.

"What are you doing? Get dressed! My alarm didn't go off and your dad is going to ground you if you don't get up!" I tossed him his bag and he dropped the bat. We scrambled to get dressed, brushing our teeth quickly and grabbing our bags only to stop abruptly when we noticed Cora and Boyd sitting in the living room.

"I should have taken his phone." Cora sighed.

"Are you the reason my alarm didn't go off?" I asked annoyed.

"Yeah we figured you could use the sleep plus, it's not really safe out there for people with healing abilities according to Derek so we were sent as protection." Boyd explained as Cora eyed Stiles carefully.

"I told Scott I had it covered." Stiles reminded them and Boyd rolled his eyes.

"Speaking of protection-" I held up my hand at Cora.

"Don't. We're already late for homeroom." I pushed on Stiles shoulder to get him to walk out the door but Cora jumped up.

"Hey, something's going on with Derek." I paused waiting for her to elaborate but Boyd stopped her.

"Is he okay?" I pressed but Cora just shook her head like she was over thinking something.

"He's fine, he just said not to let your new boyfriend effect your school work." Cora threw her head in Stiles direction and I glared at her.

"Make sure you lock up when you leave." I tossed Boyd the keys and ran out to the jeep as Stiles beeped the horn. There was no way we were going to make it before Physics started but just as the second bell rang, Stiles and I slid into the door, out of breath and fumbling with our books looking completely disheveled and earning a smirk from Scott.

"Mr. Stilinski, Ms. Stevens, I see you've decided to join us today. That's wonderful however you've already missed the warm up notes and seeing as how neither of you have a note, I'm going to have to mark you as tardy. Just because Mr. Harris is out sick doesn't mean you can slack on your attendance." Ms. Blake frowned but I quickly forged through my back pack to find a blank sheet of paper to wave my hand over quickly and think of a note.

"Actually we were with the Sheriff. He needed help with something. As you might have heard Danny Mahealani was admitted to the hospital last night after being mysteriously poisoned." I handed her a note with a brief excuse and the Sheriff's signature and Stiles' eyes were wide.

"And he required your vast knowledge of poisons I assume?" Ms. Blake questioned and I smiled.

"My aunt used to run a highly regarded herbal medicine shop so I'm familiar with most plants and poisons but I'm also close with Danny. Stiles was my ride so..." She gave me a look as if she didn't buy the story but held onto the note like she was going to accept it anyway waving her arm towards our seats.

"Okay that was totally badass witchery." Stiles whispered in my ear as we took our seats. Scott kept a stupid grin on his face and I shook my head grunting a shut up low enough for just him to hear making him laugh out loud.

"You two got extremely lucky." Scott whispered as I pulled out my notebook.

"No I just know how to lie really well which is both a gift and a curse." I tried to quickly copy the notes down as Ms. Blake started up the slideshow. Stiles phone beeped and he hit Scott's arm.

"Hey, my dad just texted me, said that the E.R. attending wasn't strangled but did die from asphyxiation. They just don't know how." Stiles pocketed his phone and I looked over t him.

"Do you think the on-call doctor could still be alive?" Scott asked.

"Possibly. There's no real way of finding out, not unless someone else gets killed." I could feel Ms. Blake's gaze fall on me again and once we made eye contact she started to walk towards me.

"There's got to be at least 20 other doctors in that hospital... at least, you know? Any one of them could be next." Scott elbowed Stiles to be quiet and Ms. Blake cleared her throat.

"Listen Maggie, I know things have been rough on you lately and if there is anything I can do-" Ms. Blake rested her hand on my shoulder and I was suddenly sucked into a latch of her in Derek's apartment, panting and moaning, underneath of Derek. I let out a scream and fall out of my chair making her jump. I put my hand over my mouth in disgust and confusion looking at Ms. Blake and trying to figure out what the hell I'd just been sucked into. How did she know Derek? When did they even meet and WHY THE HELL WERE THEY HAVING SEX IN THE LOFT!?

"Maggie? Are you okay?" Ms. Blake reached out to me and I put my hand up.

"DON'T! PLEASE DON'T TOUCH ME!" I yelled making her back up. I scrambled to get off the floor and grab my stuff.

"Stiles, accompany her to the nurse please. I'm afraid she may be experience some sort of episode due to seeing Danny so ill." Stiles followed me out of the classroom and I ran into the bathroom. I could hear him pause outside of the door before entering awkwardly.

"I know I'm not supposed to be in here but what the hell was that? You totally just wigged out in there? Did you have a vision?" I kept throwing cold water on my face wishing I could bleach my brain from what I'd just seen but it was no use.

"Derek slept with Ms. Blake. When she touched me, I saw it." Stiles was silent for a few moments before he let out a large snort laugh making me cut my eyes at him.

"I'm...I'm so sorry but that's hilarious. Not just the idea of Derek having sex with our teacher but the fact that you had to be subjected to it...that's so your luck." Water dripped down my face and I shoved him.

"It's NOT funny! I'm going to be scarred for life now and you're laughing in my face." Stiles covered his face with his hands and I shoved past him.

"Wait! Where are you going?" He was chasing after me and trying not to laugh but when I turned around and jacked him up against the wall, he froze. I shoved my hand down in his pocket and he squirmed until I retrieved his keys.

"I'm going to go talk to Derek." Stiles let out a shaky breath.

"Okay I can see now laughing was cruel but riffling in my jeans...harsh. I'm sensitive. Maggie! Maggie wait." Stiles trailed me and jumped in front of me.

"What are you going to say? Seriously? Derek's grown and so is Ms. Blake. You can't just yell at him because you happen to be victim to a bad latching." Stiles tried to talk me down.

"Maybe some change would be good for him. You've already changed his life for the better. Come on, think this through." Stiles rubbed up and down my arms trying to get me to calm down but the more I thought about it, the angrier I became.

"In the latch, Derek had claw marks on his chest." Stiles winced.

"Gross Mags, I'm trying to help here, why are you bringing me into that nightmare?" I waited for him to stop goofing off before I stepped closer to him.

"Alpha claw marks, Stiles. He slept with Ms. Blake after the bank brawl." Stiles eyebrows went up in realization.

"I was slitting my wrists thinking he had died and he was getting laid." Stiles pulled his keys from my hand and opened the passenger side door. He knew there was no way of Derek getting out of this. I silently seethed the entire drive to the loft while Stiles tried to talk me into not throat punching Derek on sight but the entire way up the elevator, all I could think about was how devastated I was when I thought I'd lost him. Thinking it was my fault and feeling utterly alone when I woke up that night, it was one of the hardest moments I had to think about surviving since losing Karen.

I threw the door open hard enough for it to bounce off the wall.

"Maggie? What are you doing-"

"You're a selfish asshole!" I practically growled taking one step into the loft. Derek didn't even rebuttal before Ms. Blake came around the corner with a worried expression painting her face.

"Oh wow this just got so much more awkward." Stiles spoke up from behind me.

"Jennifer tells me you had an incident today in your Physics class." Derek cleared his throat.

"Oh is that what Jennifer said? Tell me, at what point did you and Jennifer become some chummy?" I crossed my arms over my chest and Derek pouted.

"So does that mean I can call you Jennifer?" Stiles interjects interrupting my eye daggers at Derek.

"No you can call her Ms. Blake." He insisted nastily.

"Why!? I don't call you Mr. Hale!" Stiles objected as I moved around the loft, away from Ms. Blake who kept close distance to Derek as if he could protect her from my wrath.

"I'd prefer you didn't call me anything but here you are, dropping in annoyingly unwelcome and uninvited." Derek continued to go back and forth with Stiles before Ms. Blake put her hand on Derek's arm.

"Derek, be nice. I'm sure you dating their teacher is hard to process." Suddenly everything about Ms. Blake annoyed me. Her kindness, the way she talked so sweetly to Derek, I didn't trust her as far as I could throw her.

"Pft right." I hadn't realized I'd made a noise of disgust out loud until everyone's eyes landed on me.

"Oh god did I say that out loud?" I mumbled covering my mouth and glancing at Derek to see his disappointment.

"Yeah you did and while it was probably a bit harsh, it was definitely warranted. I mean Derek dating anyone is just…weird…no offense?" Stiles held up a hand drawing Derek's mood back to annoyance.

"The same could be said for you so none taken." There were a few moments of silence before Derek finally approached me trying to pull me aside but I reared back in fear of latching with him. We walked out onto the balcony and he shut the door behind himself.

"How much do you know?" He sighed already putting the pieces together from my physical distance with him and whatever Ms. Blake had told him already.

"I know that instead of calling to tell your family you were alive you were getting screwed by my English teacher." I pointed inside and Derek pushed my hand down to keep from drawing attention to Ms. Blake.

"Hey I know I screwed up but it's not her fault. She saved my life that day. I barely made it out of that bank alive and she brought me back here and-"

"Sexed you back to health?" I bit sarcastically. Derek's seething glare finally came out.

"Let me remind you of a couple things since you've seemed to have forgotten, I'm an adult, your guardian to be exact and who I sleep with is none of your business." I rolled my eyes and crossed my arms over my chest feeling more like a teenager in this moment than I ever have.

"I'm the adult and you're the kid and you have some nerve barging in here to reprimand me about sleeping with someone when you're having sleepovers with your boyfriend." I felt my chest seize up and Derek smirked smugly.

"Yeah I know about that and I also can smell how completely saturated you both are in one another so maybe we should talk about your sex life and how you're far too young to even have one." Derek now has his arms crossed over his chest mimicking my stance just moments ago before I turned away from him speechless. I looked up at the window and noticed black paint etched into a symbol from the outside.

"What the hell is that?" I pointed up and Derek followed my hand.

"It's the alpha pack. It's a warning. They're coming for me and this time they plan on finishing what they started. It's actually probably best if you steer clear of me for a bit." Suddenly nothing else mattered. Derek would only try to convince me to stay away if he thought they might actually succeed in killing him this time.

"That's not going to happen and you know it. You should have told me about this sooner. I can put wards up. I can protect-" The door opened and Stiles flew out of it.

"Scott just called, Deaton's been taken. We've got to go." He was out of breath and panicking. Derek nudged my arm.

"Go. Help Scott find Deaton. If you need anything, just call." I didn't want to leave Derek but if Deaton had been taken there was only a matter of time before he was dead and we needed him. I looked at Derek wishing I could be in two places at once but he put his hand on my shoulder giving it a squeeze.

"I'll be okay. Just go." I hated always been pulled in different directions. I hated that so many things were going wrong at one time. I hated that so many things wanted the people I loved dead and I could barely stay afloat in trying to protect them all.

"Stay put. I'm going to put wards up before I go but they only work if you stay here okay?" I ran towards Stiles and said a silent spell since Ms. Blake was standing there as we walked towards the door. She looked like she wanted to say something but I didn't have time to deal with whatever it was. I had to help rescue Deaton before it was too late.

**[Cora's POV]**

I walked into the loft drained. Keeping tabs on these kids was exhausting and I hated it. I was going to take advantage of the few hours I had with them in school to get some sleep but as I walked into the loft, Derek greeted me with a grunt.

"Look if you're here to give me crap too, save it. Who I sleep with is not something I'm discussing and we have bigger problems to worry about than me dating Maggie's teacher." Derek huffed at me like he'd been preparing for an argument but the last thing I wanted to do was even think about my brother's sex life.

"Gross. I don't want to hear about all that. It's bad enough you've got me shadowing hormonal teenagers and now you want to dump your disgusting private life on me? I came here to nap, not hear about you being an ass and dating someone that's supposed to have a working relationship with Maggie." Derek's eyebrows went up when I held my hand up waving him and his ridiculous rant off.

"You think it's a bad idea that I get involved with her?" I had barely made it to the stairs when he asked and I leaned my head down on the railing.

"I think you're right, you're old enough to make your own decisions however Maggie seems to have a lot of trust issues so maybe dating her teacher isn't the best way to help that." I sat down on the stairs knowing that Derek was going to want to hash out whatever was on his mind.

"I haven't really dated a really long time...she's the first person I've really bothered letting myself have a connection with." Derek explained.

"That doesn't make her the one, it just means you're getting better as a functioning human being. You deserve happiness Derek…when you aren't being hunted by an alpha pack or being driven crazy with all these terrible teens you surround yourself with." He smiled at me sitting on the couch.

"They aren't so bad once you get to know them. Well Stiles is always annoying but the rest aren't so terrible." It was strange to be back in Beacon Hills but to come back and see Derek who was almost a completely different person back then dealing with all these high schoolers and providing guidance to them as if he were their big brother was odd. Derek was always social being on the basketball team and being a Hale but I had almost expected him to be a shell of who he once was. I felt incredibly damaged after losing the family in the fire. I became cold and unfeeling towards a lot of people. Maybe he'd just been more well adjusted than myself.

"I didn't think you'd be like this when I finally found you. I thought…I don't know, I thought you'd be cold." I admitted catching Derek's interest.

"After the fire, Satomi took me in and tried to raise me with her pack. She didn't do a terrible job but it wasn't like it used to be with us at home. I was so closed off after the fire, knowing that I'd never see Mom and Dad or any of you again kind of tore a huge chunk of my heart out. I didn't have a ton of friends and even being in the pack, I couldn't connect like they were my real family." Derek nodded as if he understood.

"When I first came back here, it was because Laura had said she needed my help and instead of finding her, I found Maggie. It's taken me some time to even attempt to heal those wounds, it took letting myself believe that I could start again, Maggie sort of reminded me of that. Our family was torn apart but it didn't end. I'm still here, you're still here…unfortunately Peter is still here." I huffed out a laugh.

"Maggie never got to experience what it was truly like being a Hale in Beacon Hills and you know mom would have wanted us to make sure she was brought into the fold of our madness. Our family has always been more than a name but it's still up to us to represent it the way they'd have wanted us to." Derek was right. There was no prouder family in this crap town and just because we were insanely fractured didn't mean it was unfixable.

"She's not so bad. She kind of reminds me of Laura." Derek smiled at me.

"I actually think she's more like you which is way I was able to embrace some changes in my life." I would never verbalize that I agreed with Derek but he was right. I felt an underlined acceptance of Maggie mostly because she'd already sort of felt like family.

"You know just because this is the place we grew up doesn't mean it's home. This town…it breaks you down and kills your spirit. You should get out of here, travel some and find a real home. I mean obviously when you're done raising all these werewolf kids you've adopted." I teased. He rolled his eyes.

"Maybe one day you'll get to find a place or a person to call home that doesn't have so much history…or teach it." Derek finally laughed.

"She teaches English actually." Derek corrected me. The last time I remember Derek falling in love was with Paige and how shattered he was when he lost her. I never expected him to date again let alone find someone who made him blush whenever I teased him about her. I was happy for him and only hoped it had a better ending then with Paige.

"When this is all over, you should consider going back to school." Derek broke through my thoughts clearly reading that I was thinking too much.

"I got my GED already. Besides the last thing I want to do is go back to school. Teenagers are twice as annoying as they used to be." I remember going to school and hating it but Satomi had insisted I get my education if I planned on continuing to live with her pack. It was a miracle she managed to find me as young as I was.

"Maybe take some college courses then. I just figured if you'd want to get out of here after we get rid of the alpha pack. Get back to your life." I narrowed my gaze at Derek confused at where all of this was coming from. I had told him I came back for him and now he suddenly wanted me out?

"Why are you suddenly trying to get rid of me Derek? Am I in the way of your new relationship or something?" I questioned waiting for him to get offended but he softened.

"Of course not. I just know how much you hate Beacon Hills and you've made it pretty clear that I'm not the alpha you'd like to be following so I just figured you'd go where you'd be happiest." I should have guessed it was about what I'd said. Derek could remember the date and time of every offensive thing that ever happened to him when we were children, at least that was still the same.

"Look I know what I said before but I was wrong. You aren't perfect Derek but you're trying. The way you've handled all of this with protecting Isaac and helping Boyd through his grief, the way you've let Scott navigate his way into being his own wolf, even the way you've managed to take care of Maggie. I don't really think Mom prepared any of us to take over the Hale throne but I think…I think she'd be proud of you." Derek laughed.

"Thanks for the stellar participation points Cor, but I wasn't phishing for praise. I just don't want you sitting around here getting bored." I pulled myself up from the stairs frustrated and tired.

"God I was trying to pay you a compliment, dick. I'm going to Maggie's where at least they have a TV." I barely got to the door when my phone started ringing.

"I guess you'll have to scrap your nap." I gave Derek the finger as I held the phone to my ear.

"Yeah Maggie, what's…slow down what's going on? Okay I'll find her. Just keep me posted. Yeah I'll tell him." I hung up the phone and looked at Derek.

"It's already in motion. They have to find Deaton but Lydia is unprotected so I'm going to go retrieve her from the school." Derek walked over to me looking apprehensive.

"Watch your back." I tossed my head in the direction of the symbol on the window.

"I will, you be careful out there. Call Boyd if you need back up." Derek insisted. We looked at one another like we knew what was about to happen. This was the calm before the real storm. Destruction was coming and this might be the last moment we'd actually get before everything went to hell. I took comfort in knowing that I at least had someone else to face the end of days with. I was too young to save my family from the fire but I refused to lose the fight this time around. I'd do anything to protect this pack, this family, my family.


End file.
